Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion
by Eric Thorsen
Summary: Harry Potter meets Ranma Saotome... the universe will never be the same again. Harry is 15 and has just lost his godfather. Ranma is 17 and has just made an interesting discovery. NOT SLASH! Chapter 7 is UP! Minor edit for spelling.
1. Prologue: Injuries and Revelations

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion By Lord Dragonbane 

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***Disclaimer: The characters and concepts employed in this story are the sole property of their respective creators or those people to whom they have seen fit to sell their rights to. The author of this story makes no claims except where the character or concept is original. In other words, what's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs, so leave me alone alright?  
  
***Author's notes: This is a different universe from the canon Ranma ½ or Harry Potter worlds, so characters may appear to be out of character. Also, this story takes place after OOTP for Harry Potter, and after the failed wedding attempt for Ranma. Finally, unlike the rest of my family, I DO NOT like Akane Tendo. In fact, I think that Ranma deserves more than a delusional sociopath with megalomaniacal tendencies. Deal with it.  


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Prologue: Injuries and Revelations  


* * *

  
"Ranma you jerk!"  
  
Ranma Saotome glanced up from his drawing pad and swore to himself looking around for the source of the angry shout. He sighed in relief when he saw that Akane Tendo was standing in the yard below glaring up at him, rather than next to him on the roof.  
  
"What did I do this time?" Ranma sounded bored, even to his own ears.  
  
"What did you do?" Akane's voice rose even higher. "What didn't you do? You were supposed to wait for me to finish my drama club meeting so that we could pick up the groceries for dinner tonight! Instead, you left and I went to the store to buy them myself. When I got home, I found out that you had already bought them and were nowhere around."  
  
"I was up here."  
  
"What are you doing up there anyway, waiting for one of your girlfriends?"  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
"What wouldn't I understand? That you couldn't wait to get home so you could spend the three hours I was in my play practice kissing that tramp Shampoo!"  
  
"I haven't seen Shampoo since the disas… I mean the wedding."  
  
Akane's face went red for a moment and she started to glow as she glared up at him, then turned and stormed around to the side of the house. Ranma wondered what she was doing, but he didn't have long to wait. A extendable metal later slammed into the side of the house, and Akane soon appeared at the top of it, the violence of her steps making the ladder shake as she climbed. Ranma stood up and tossed his drawing supplies to the patio for safety's sake.  
  
"No Akane, there's noth…"  
  
"Shut up you… you gigolo!" Akane seethed, her battle-aura getting brighter and starting to swim with black ribbons. "I don't know why my father wants me to marry a scum like you. It definitely isn't because I want anything to do with you."  
  
"Our fathers agreed on it. It's a matter of honor."  
  
"Honor? As if you or your father know anything about that! As far as I can tell there is only one way for me to _restore_ my honor after having you as a fiancé."  
  
"What… what's that?" Ranma was getting nervous about the amount of black that Akane had in her aura. She didn't hate him that much, did she?  
  
Akane's expression went blank and then her aura turned solid black, making it nearly impossible for Ranma to see her. Then her aura condensed into a massive mallet that seemed to absorb the light around it.  
  
"DIE!"  
  
Ranma ducked the first swing of the dark mallet, but her follow through clipped the side of his head, dazing him enough for her to flatten him on the slate roof with her next swing. Her next swing carried him off of the roof and almost into the koi pond.  
  
In the house below, Nodoka Saotome and Kasumi Tendo, Ranma's mother and Akane's sister, were sipping tea and trading recipes when the heard the impact on the roof. Rushing to the porch, they arrived in time to see Akane jump off of the roof, aiming for Ranma's head with her mallet. When he barely rolled out of the way in time, Nodoka and Kasumi gasped, shaken by the sight of the rock Akane hit collapsing into gravel.  
  
"Akane, what are you doing?" Kasumi yelled, trying to distract her enraged sister. "You could have killed Ranma!"  
  
"That's kind of the idea!" Akane laughed insanely, and swung her mallet again, sending Ranma's semi-conscious body head first into the boundary wall with a sickening crack. Nodoka swore and ran to the entry hall, where she retrieved her family katana from the closet. She returned to the porch and ran into the backyard, hoping to arrive in time to save her son from his fiancée. There was a sizzling clang when she brought the sword around in a block that stopped Akane's mallet inches from Ranma's unprotected head.  
  
"This stops now Akane Tendo." Nodoka rasped, glaring at the enraged teenager. Akane sneered at the older woman and drew her mallet back for another swing.  
  
"Do you really think that you can stop me?" Akane demanded, shifting her focus from Ranma to his mother. "That gigolo deserves to die. His very existence is a blot on my honor. His life is mine to take whenever I please!"  
  
"Akane!" Kasumi was shocked at her sister's words and attitude.  
  
"If that is the way that you truly feel, then I bless those who stopped you from marrying my son, girl." Nodoka shifted her sword to a high guard position, moving to stand protectively over her son. "You are unfit to be any man's wife, let alone my son's!" Kasumi stared at Nodoka for several seconds and then ran back into the house, calling for her father.  
  
"Who do you think you are, saying something like that to me?" Akane shrieked in rage, the aura of the mallet in her hands getting darker still and the grass around her starting to smolder. "I am Akane Tendo, heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and the greatest martial artist in Nerima. Your son is nothing more than a male whore who gives himself to women for their pleasure and amusement. He is not worthy to lick my shoes."  
  
"You are nothing more than a spoiled child who has gone too long without discipline. A pathetic little girl who cannot see that she is nothing compared to those around her."  
  
"You… You Bit…"  
  
"That is quite enough young lady!" an enraged male voice roared from the porch, drawing the combatants' attention. Soun Tendo stood in the doorway to the house, but it was a Soun Tendo that no one had seen in eleven years. His grim face and stiff posture spoke of outrage at his daughter's actions. "To attack an opponent after he has fallen is dishonorable enough, but to insult those who would preserve your honor by stopping you is almost worthy of seppuku. Be careful that you go no further."  
  
"Honor?" Akane laughed, turning toward her father and taking a step in his direction. "You dare speak to me of honor? You are less than nothing to me! You are…" Akane's tirade cut of as everyone in the yard heard a loud thump, and watched in shock as she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.  
  
"Ma…Master you have returned?" Soun asked in surprise, drawing confused looks from everyone else except the ancient master.  
  
"Ah Soun, I see you have finally recovered from your nervous breakdown." Happosai grinned at his student and pulled his pipe out of his gi. After he took a couple puffs on the pipe the old man sighed and looked down at Akane. "Unfortunately it looks like your youngest child hasn't escaped from your wife's family curse as we hoped."  
  
"Curse?" Kasumi asked horrified. "What is this curse Grandfather Happosai?"  
  
"Insanity dear," Soun answered with a miserable expression. "Her mother and her sister both had it, and if she hadn't died of cancer so would you your mother by now. Unfortunately your mother and I were second cousins, so it was worse with Akane."  
  
"But father, what about Nabiki? What… What about me?"  
  
"Not to worry child, this madness only appears through the female line if only half of the x-chromosomes are damaged. If both were, then the child would die before birth. Fortunately, you and Nabiki inherited the undamaged chromosome from your mother, like great-grandmother on your father's side. There is no danger to either of you. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Akane, or poor Kodachi."  
  
"Kodachi? Kodachi Kuno?"  
  
"Yes, unfortunately her father comes from the same line of that family as your mother did. This means that she, her brother, and her father are all affected. None of them could escape it, just like Genma couldn't escape the impotence that has plagued his father's family for generations."  
  
"But master… Genma has a son."  
  
"Born three months premature and that healthy?" Happosai laughed. "Soun, only Genma would be stupid enough to believe that. Why do you think I forced him to leave on a yearlong training trip right after he told me? No, Ranma may be Nodoka's son, but he is not Genma's." Nodoka blushed rosily, but didn't deny Happosai's words.  
  
"Then Ranma is…"  
  
"Not Genma's heir, and therefore not honor bound by anything that idiot has done. The Saotome name will finally die out with Genma."  
  
"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Nodoka muttered, blushing hotter when she saw everyone else staring at her.  
  
"Auntie Saotome?"  
  
"I'm sorry Kasumi, but Genma has only brought me trouble since the day that I met him. If only…" Nodoka sighed, and then jumped when she heard a loud thump behind her. Everyone turned to look and gasped at the sight of Ranma lying against the wall, blood pooling around him and streaming from his head. "Ranma!" Nodoka ran to her son while Kasumi ran to the phone and called an ambulance.  
  
*******************  
"BP is falling, we'll need to give him a transfusion fast or we may lose him!" One of the paramedics, a tall man, with close-cropped hair, shouted to his partner, who was sitting next to Nodoka in the ambulance.  
  
"Ma'am, I need to know your son's blood type for the transfusion." The paramedic said as his partner inserted an IV needle into Ranma's arm. "Ma'am?"  
  
"He's AB-negative, and…" she swore softly as she realized a possible problem. "He's also Vel-negative." The paramedic stopped what he was doing and stared at Nodoka for several seconds before swearing to himself.  
  
"Ma'am that's impossible, Vel-negative is a _gaijin_ rare blood type."  
  
"I know." Nodoka replied simply. "Ranma's… Ranma's father was English." The paramedic nodded, still dazed, then shook off his bewilderment and had his partner pass the information to the hospital. They were told to only transfuse plasma, while the hospital tried to find a source for the needed blood type. Nodoka was left in a waiting room when they took Ranma into an operating room. Twelve minutes later she saw four US Marines come up to the admission desk. They were immediately rushed to the OR where Ranma was being operated on.  
  
Seven hours later, the marines left, and one of the doctors who had been operating on Ranma came out and took Nodoka into a conference room.  
  
"Mrs. Saotome, your son was lucky that you remembered his blood type. If he'd received Vel-positive blood by accident, I doubt he would have survived. That said, your son has some rather unusual injuries that I would like to discuss with you?"  
  
"Injuries?"  
  
"There were numerous injuries all over his body, some of them very old…"  
  
"My son has been a martial artist since he could walk."  
  
"Mrs. Saotome, some of these injuries cannot be explained by any form of martial arts training that I or my colleague have ever heard of. For example, were you aware that your son had what appears to be a cat's claw embedded in the orbital bone of his left eye?"  
  
"A cat's claw?"  
  
"As to his other old injuries, were you aware that your son fractured his skull almost fifteen years ago and was never treated? That a piece of bone from that fracture had been putting pressure on his brain?"  
  
"Is he… Does my son have brain damage?"  
  
"It's too early to tell ma'am." The doctor sighed, taking her question for a negative. "The bone fragment was putting pressure on a part of the brain that we really know very little about. However, the fracture was very close to the hypothalamus, so there might have been some personality effects from the pressure, as well as some… sexual dysfunction."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"The part of his brain that was under pressure controls several things, but two of them are sexual behavior, and hunger." The doctor looked at Nodoka questioningly when she gasped. "Have you thought of what may have caused some of your son's injuries?"  
  
"No, but I've just realized that this pressure that you describe makes since when combined with some of my son's behavior recently."  
  
"Ma'am?"  
  
"Over the past year, I have observed my son eating enormous amounts of food. At the same time, no less than twelve beautiful young women have approached him sexually. His only responses have been confusion, followed by abject terror. Would you consider this normal?"  
  
"For a seventeen year old boy? Not hardly. This only serves to confirm my diagnosis. Fortunately, though I never thought to say that of a head trauma, his recent injuries made it possible for us to correct the damage from the earlier one. We relieved the pressure on Ranma's brain, but now we must wait to see how this will affect him.  
  
Nodoka nodded to the doctor gratefully and came to her feet. "If there is nothing else doctor, I will leave my son in your capable hands. It is past time that I informed Ranma's father of his condition. His _biological_ father."  
  
"Ah… no ma'am… I mean, yes Mrs. Saotome, I believe that would be a good idea." Nodoka nodded and left the hospital. First she took a bus to the nearest police station and swore out two arrest warrants, one for Genma Saotome on suspicion of child abuse and neglect, the other for Akane Tendo for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. She then took a train to her family home, which she had inherited from her parents, and started searching through boxes that she hadn't opened for over seventeen years.  
  
************************  
  
"… this number is no longer in service, if you believe you have reached this number in error, please disconnect and try again." Nodoka set the receiver back in its cradle, and stared into the distance, wondering what she should do now. Unknown to her, a single tear slid down her face and dropped to the necklace that she held in her hand, rubbing her fingers over the pendant she hadn't worn since before her marriage to Genma. As the salt water was massage into the cool metal, it started pulsing with a pale green light. Nodoka sat staring into the distance for almost half an hour before she stood up to go back to the hospital. Almost unthinkingly, she put the necklace on; never noticing that it glowed for another ten minutes before it stopped suddenly as if someone had purposely turned it off. It's appearance returned to normal, a silver charm in the shape of a massive dog with what looked suspiciously like a huge smile on its face. 


	2. Chapter 1: Surprises

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion By Lord Dragonbane  


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***Disclaimer: The characters and concepts employed in this story are the sole property of their respective creators or those people to whom they have seen fit to sell their rights. The author of this story makes no claims except where the character or concept is original. In other words, what's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs, so leave me alone all right?  


* * *

  
Chapter One: Surprises  
  


* * *

  
Harry Potter was bored.  
  
Since he was lying on his bed at number 4 Privet Drive, where he lived during the summer holidays with his aunt, Petunia Dursley, her Husband, Vernon, and their son, Dudley, this was not unusual. What was unusual about it today though was that his lack of activity was more by his own choice than because of an edict from the aforementioned Dursleys. Actually, Uncle Vernon had given Harry permission to work on his homework in his bedroom as long as he didn't actually do any magic, which Harry wouldn't have done anyway. Harry just wasn't interested.  
  
He was grieving.  
  
Three weeks had passed since he and five of his friends had gone to the Ministry of Magic offices in London to rescue Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, only to find out once they were there, that the vision Harry had been seeing was part of a trap laid by Voldemort to gain access to a prophecy involving Harry. Three weeks since Bellatrix Lestrange had dueled with his godfather and sent him tumbling through the black veil in the Department of Mysteries. Three weeks since the only person who seemed to care for Harry unconditionally had… died.  
  
"Boy! Have you contacted those freakish friends of yours lately?" Vernon Dursley's gruff voice, tinged lightly with panic rang down the hallway. The Dursleys had taken 'Mad-Eye' Moody's threat very seriously, and made sure that Harry contacted one of his friends at least once every three days, even if it was only a minute long telephone call to Hermione Granger to let her know that he was still alive and, no, he didn't want to talk about what had happened at the Ministry of Magic in the beginning of June.  
  
"I called Hermione last night Uncle Vernon!" Harry heard his uncle grunt in acceptance and go back down the stairs, while Harry turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Last night, Hermione had been rather angry with Harry, calling him an 'enormous prat' and telling him that he needed to talk to someone if he was ever going to come to grips with what had happened. Harry had lit into Hermione, telling her to mind her own business. He'd hung up on her immediately afterwards, furious at her interference and lack of understanding. Didn't she realize what he'd done? That Sirius had died because he, Harry Potter, had been too stupid and stubborn to get past his own anger and learn Occlumency; too pitifully weak to keep Voldemort from planting that vision in his mind. It was his fault, his fault that Sirius was dead; his fault that five of his friends and several members of the Order of the Phoenix had almost met the same fate.  
  
"Why can't they just leave me alone?" Harry buried his head under his pillow. He was almost asleep again when he heard the doorbell ring, the door open and his uncle bellowing in outrage.  
  
"Harry Potter, get yourself down here and explain this!" Harry sighed, wondering what his uncle was blaming him for this time. Pulling his glasses on, Harry rolled out of bed and shuffled to his door, pulling on the flannel robe that Dudley had outgrown two years ago. He walked down the hall and had started down the stairs when he met his Uncle, who was glaring at him balefully. "Talked to your friend yesterday is it? Then explain this to me!" Uncle Vernon dragged Harry the rest of the way down the stairs and through the door to the lounge by the ear. Harry realized what his uncle was talking about almost immediately.  
  
"Mr. Dursley! There was no need to drag Harry around by his ear. He did speak to his friend Hermione Granger last night. Unfortunately, something occurred early this morning that made it necessary for us to pay him a visit today." Harry could barely recognize Nymphadora Tonks , who seemed to be trying to look as normal as she possibly could today. She was wearing a skirted tweed business suit and black low-heeled pumps that, along with her currently straight black hair, and 'normal' face, made her look like nothing more than a school teacher come to visit one of her students. Unfortunately, since it was the middle of summer holidays, this would have been complete out of character. Her companion didn't help much either. Bill Weasley waved apologetically at Harry from the other end of the Dursley's couch, his acid green dragon-skin jacket making the room around him look about ten times brighter. Aunt Petunia and Dudley sat huddled together on the love seat, coincidentally as far from the two magical people as they could possibly get and still be in the same room.  
  
"Nothing's happened to Ron or Hermione has it?" Harry asked, worried that one of his best friends might have been attacked after his telephone conversation the night before. The confused expressions on both faces reassured him at the same time that it annoyed him. "Then what happened that made it so vital for you to come here now instead of waiting for my next phone call in two days?"  
  
"Harry, did Sirius give you a Bichon charm last year when you stayed with him?" Tonks asked, nervously glancing at Bill for support. "Think carefully."  
  
"What _is_ a Bichon charm?" Harry thought of the mirror that was lying in pieces at the bottom of his trunk. "You mean the two way mirror that he gave me?"  
  
"No Harry, unless the mirror was made entirely of metal, it wouldn't work for a Bichon charm." Bill answered when Tonks looked at him questioningly. "Bichon charms are usually disguised as Jewelry, charm bracelet and pendants, things like that. The magic in a Bichon charm only really works well when cast on something made out of metal."  
  
"Then I don't think he did. Other than my Firebolt, that mirror was the only present Sirius ever gave me, and it broke when I threw it in my trunk last year." Harry could tell that the two adults were disappointed. Bill stood up and indicated to Tonks that it was time to leave.  
  
"Oh well, at least that's one less place we have to look to find this stupid charm," Bill sighed in irritation, following Tonks to the front door. "Harry if you think of anything else, then call Hermione immediately, regardless of the time. We have people watching her family too."  
"And don't forget that it's only until your birthday Harry." Tonks smiled at him reassuringly and then followed Bill out the door. "Sorry to interrupt your morning folks." She closed the door and Harry stood there for a few seconds before turning to leave the room. Before he made it to the stairs Uncle Vernon spun him around by the shoulders.  
  
"What did they mean by it hmm?" His tone told Harry that he wouldn't be going any further until his uncle's curiosity had been satisfied. "What did they mean 'we have people watching her family too.' And what happens on your birthday?"  
  
"Professor Dumbledore has people watching the house to make sure that Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters doesn't come here and kill me. The birthday thing is similar. According to Dumbledore, as long as I can call the house where my only remaining family lives my home, we are all protected from Voldemort."  
  
"Not that rubbish again. Why would _we_ need to be protected from this 'Voldything'? He's only after _you_ isn't he?"  
  
"Like that would make any difference." Harry muttered to himself, and then looked his uncle in the eye. "You're right, Voldemort couldn't care less about you, and all he really wants is me, but as long as I have relatives who I could possibly live with, I could be protected from him. And don't fool yourself into thinking that Voldemort would leave you alone if you threw me out of the house. He would kill you all without a single thought, just so I would have one less place to hide that was safe from him." Aunt Petunia gasped, and Dudley whimpered when they heard how calmly Harry had tossed that out. Uncle Vernon released Harry's shoulder, and Harry made good his escape. When he got to his room he was unnerved to see Pigwidgeon, Ron Weasley's post owl standing on top of Hedwig's cage with a letter attached to his leg. The color did not bode well for the content of the letter. It was the vivid red of a 'howler.' Quickly, before the letter could open itself, Harry ran down the stairs, ignoring his aunt and uncle's demands for an explanation, slammed the cellar door shut. Just in time.  
  
"YOU BLOODY GET! Where do you get off making Hermione cry like that! She's worried about you, and you tell her to 'sod off?' I don't what is going on in your head, but you had better get your priorities straight, or you might not have _any_ friends when you go back to Hogwarts!"  
  
Harry shuddered as the letter tore itself to pieces in a flash of righteous fury. Walking up the cellar stairs, Harry passed his aunt and uncle, who were staring at him, speechless with shock. Harry left them where they were standing and went back up to his room, noticing that Pigwidgeon was gone. Collapsing onto his bed, he buried his face in his pillow to hide the tears running down his face. No on understood what he was going through.  
  
**********  
  
Ranma smiled to his mother as she came in the door, stepping aside as the two giggling nurses who had been taking his vital signs left.  
  
"Hi Mom, when can I get out of here?" It was obvious to Nodoka that Ranma's patience with staying in bed was fading fast. She was surprised to see him awake though, especially since the doctors had told her it would be at least two or three days before he had recovered enough to have long term visitors.  
  
"Soon dear. The doctors want to keep you here for at least a week to make sure there aren't any complications from your injuries."  
  
"Complications? Like what?"  
  
"Strokes, brain hemorrhages, blood clots, little things like that." Doctor Tamiya, the neurosurgeon who had been assigned to Ranma's case the night before, smiled at his patient as he came into the room and checked Ranma's chart, making some notes on a PDA. "So how is the worst patient on the fifth floor?"  
  
"I wouldn't know Doc, why don't you go ask him?" Ranma laughed at the shocked expression on his mother's face. "So anything show up on the pictures you took last night? You left without saying anything." Nodoka looked at the doctor questioningly, catching him with a rueful expression on his face.  
  
"Last night, well before he should have, Ranma woke up from the anesthetic. I was called in to examine him because he was complaining about seeing a huge black dog staring at him from the end of his bed. Since no one on the staff could see the dog, which he insisted was still there, we decided that a CT scan might be in order, especially since Ranma had just undergone brain surgery. Hallucinations are one of the warning signs we look for to identify complications." Nodoka nodded and motioned for the doctor to continue. "Anyway, the CT scan showed that the healing process in proceeding normally, if at an accelerated rate. Just to be on the safe side we performed an MRI, to see if that could find something."  
  
"And? Doc, I know you like hearing your own voice, but that's _my_ brain you're talking about. What did you find?"  
  
"That's just it Ranma, we didn't find anything. As far as we could tell you're completely recovered. Even the part of your skull that we had to open up has completely healed over. You have some rather amazing healing abilities." Nodoka smiled at the blush Ranma wore, and then remembered part of the doctor's explanation.  
  
"Did you say that Ranma was complaining about a large black dog?" When the doctor nodded, she continued softly. "Other than its presence, was there anything strange about this dog Ranma?"  
  
"You mean other than the fact that no one else could see it? All I really remember was that the dog was huge and black, almost the size of a bear. It had this strange silver glow around it, and I thought that I could see stuff through it. Oh and for some reason I thought it was smiling at me a lot."  
  
"Smiling? Glowing? Sounds like you might have seen a kami or something." Doctor Tamiya chuckled, not noticing Nodoka's serious expression. Nodoka drew her pendant out and caught Ranma's attention.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"Did this dog look something like this?" Ranma looked at his mother's necklace, and then stared at her in shock.  
  
"That's it exactly Mom, did we have a dog like that? Is that where I'm getting these images from?"  
  
"No Ranma, Genma is allergic to dogs, and this pendant has been in storage since before you were born. There is no way you could have seen it before."  
  
"Where did you get that mom?"  
  
"It was a wedding gift from your father."  
  
"The old panda gave you something like that for a wedding gift? I didn't know that he bought anyone anything, especially not something that _cool_."  
  
"Doctor, I think that I need a moment alone with my son." Doctor Tamiya nodded, and Nodoka escorted him from the room, then returned to the chair beside Ranma's bed after shutting the door. She thought for a few moments, and then straightened her shoulders. When I said that this necklace was a wedding gift from your father, I was not referring to Genma Saotome."  
  
"You weren't?"  
  
"No, you see, when I was younger, I was very rebellious and went to Tokyo University against my parents' wishes. I took many courses and came to understand how computers worked. After I graduated, I got a job working for a new company in Okayama that specialized in computer software for industrial automation. I had been working there for two years when, at 23, I met a handsome young man from England. Unfortunately, my parents had been keeping an eye on me, and when I started dating this young man seriously, they started arranging with the Saotome Family for me to marry Genma. My parents did not know it, but my boyfriend had asked me to marry him the week before they wrote to me, demanding that I come home and fulfill my family duties by marrying Genma. When I found out what they had agreed to, I was horrified. I pleaded with them to meet with my boyfriend, but they refused. I was so angry after that, I told them I wanted nothing more to do with them, and two weeks later, I married my boyfriend. Two months later, my husband convinced me to try to make up with my parents, but on the train, a large group of people intent on killing my husband attacked us. We got separated, and I barely escaped with my life. When I couldn't find him anywhere, I continued my journey to my parents' house. That was my worst mistake yet. The instant I arrived, my father locked me in my old room and sent a letter to my employer, resigning my position. He then attempted to cancel the lease on my apartment and discovered that I had moved out two months before. I attempted to contact my husband, but my parents refused all telephone calls and mail addressed to me, cutting me off from the outside world completely. After two weeks of this I discovered that I was pregnant."  
  
"But Mom, what about the necklace?"  
  
"It was a wedding gift from your father, as I said. He told me it was a means to contact him if we were ever separated. When I discovered that I was pregnant, I tried to use it, but it didn't work. I finally concluded that your father must have died in the attack, which destroyed any hope I had of escaping the marriage my parents arranged. One month later, I married Genma, to preserve my family's honor. After the wedding, I took a trip down to Okayama and discovered that my new apartment, the one I had leased with your father, had been broken into, but nothing was missing. I sent a letter two your father's parents, but all I got back was a letter saying that I had no claim on their family, and any further contact would be ignored."  
  
"So these guys who attacked you killed my dad?"  
  
"So I thought, until two years ago. Just after Genma sent me the letter telling me that you had crossed into China, I received a letter from a lawyer in England. Included with this letter was the necklace that I gave your father, and a request for a copy of the divorce decree that allowed me to marry Genma. Apparently, my husband, your father, had survived the attack and tried to find me after recovering from his injuries. Unfortunately, he didn't think of checking my parents' home until after I had married Genma. Apparently, he assumed that I hadn't loved him after all, so he went back to England. Shortly after that, he was wrongfully convicted of multiple murders and sent to prison. It seems that he escaped three years ago and was putting his affairs in order, when he realized that he didn't have a copy of our supposed divorce. When I realized that my love had survived, I wanted to rush to him, but I couldn't leave without knowing where you were; and so I waited. After I found you again, I was caught up in trying to repair the damage Genma had done to your life. It was only after you were injured yesterday that I remembered the telephone number your father's lawyer had sent to me. I tried to call him last night, but it was disconnected. Now I have no way of telling him that you exist, and that I still love him. No way to tell him that his son almost died yesterday."  
  
"So, Genma Saotome isn't my father. That means that my name shouldn't be Ranma Saotome at all. Who am I mom? Who is my father?"  
  
Nodoka sighed and tried to compose herself, trying to bring her emotions back under control. Finally she decided that Ranma needed the whole truth. "The name on your birth certificate, the original one, not the forgery that your father has carried with him everywhere, is Ranma Theodoric Black. Your father is Sirius Black."  
  
  



	3. Chapter 2: What?

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion  
By Lord Dragonbane 

* * *

***Disclaimer: The characters and concepts employed in this story are the sole property of their respective creators or those people to whom they have seen fit to sell their rights. The author of this story makes no claims except where the character or concept is original. In other words, what's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs, so leave me alone all right?  


* * *

Chapter 2: What?  


* * *

"How are you feeling Harry?" Charlie Weasley's cheerful voice was very annoying to Harry in the mood he was in currently. It was the day before his birthday, and he was more depressed than ever. Hermione hadn't talked to him in the three weeks following his blow-up. Instead, members of the Order of the Phoenix had been calling him every other day. Some of those calls had been rather funny.  
  
"The Dursleys are treating me fine, and I'm not sick." Harry replied, hoping to get out of talking, just as easily as he had the last ten times. He was disappointed.  
  
"That's not what I asked and you know it Harry." Charlie's voice had an angry bite to it that surprised Harry. "I asked how you were feeling. The others may be willing to let you get away with blowing every body off like this, but I would never here the end of it from Mum if I did. So stop trying to cut yourself off from everybody and talk to me!"  
  
"I… I can't. You wouldn't understand."  
  
"Listen Harry, I understand a lot more than you might think. I've been involved in this war from the very beginning, and don't try to fool yourself. You're not the first person in history to make a mistake that cost someone his or her life, and you at least had a good reason for doing what you did. Fudge's refusal to admit that you-know-who was back cost us three aurors last year, as well as five civilians. We're just now finding out about it because the Ministry of Magic finally stopped trying to hush everything up. All you did was fall into a trap that would have caught most of us. It wasn't your fault."  
  
"Yes it was. It was because of my weakness where Voldemort is concerned that I fell into that trap."  
  
"You're right Harry; it was because of a weakness. Just remember this, weaknesses only become problems when you give up on strengthening them." Charlie sounded like he wanted to say something more about that to Harry, but he didn't. Instead, he sighed in frustration. "Listen Harry, the reason that I called a day early was because the mad scientist and the wolf-man will meet you at your place around the eighth hour tomorrow." Harry understood that Charlie meant that Mr. Weasley and Remus Lupin would be coming to pick him up at 8 am.  
  
"Okay." Harry hung up the phone and stared at it for a second, then turned to go back to his room.  
  
"Well Boy? What did they want this time?" Uncle Vernon demanded, lowering his newspaper to glare at Harry. "I thought they would only be calling you every other day."  
  
"They're coming to get me tomorrow morning."  
  
"Is… Is your godfather coming?" Aunt Petunia gasped when her son asked this question.  
  
"No, you won't have to worry about Sirius coming here anymore. He'll never come here again." Harry tried to leave the room again, but Dudley stopped him with his next words.  
  
"Why not? Does he think he's better than we are or something? Doesn't want to be seen with the mugg…"  
  
"Sirius is DEAD, alright?!" Harry's eyes flashed with barely contained fury. "His own cousin was working for Voldemort. She attacked me and some friends, and he died trying to protect us from her."  
  
"While you were at school? I thought you that the school was safest place in the world?"  
  
"It is. We went to the Ministry of Magic offices in London to save Sirius, but we were tricked. He wasn't there."  
  
"Then how…" Harry couldn't stand it anymore, and bolted out of the lounge. Running up the stairs, he slammed the door to his room, locking it. He then collapsed face-first onto his bead. He felt his tears soaking into the pillow as he let his grief and rage out. After what seemed to him like hours, Harry got out of bed again and started packing. An hour later, everything except for his toiletries and the shorts and t-shirt he usually slept in away from school was packed in his trunk. Harry wrote a short message to Ron asking him to take care of Hedwig, and sent her on her way. After cleaning her cage, Harry took a shower, dressed in his nightclothes, and got into bed. As he passed into sleep, he could have sworn that he saw Sirius standing next to his bed in his dog form. Then he was asleep.  
  
**********  
  
"Mom, where are my clothes?" Ranma shouted from his bedroom, where he was searching through boxes while wearing towel around his waist. "All I can find is my 'Happosai collection' and the clothes you bought me when you thought I was Akane's cousin."  
  
Nodoka came into the room and chuckled at the harried expression on Ranma's face, then laughed even harder at the sight of Ranma's 'Happosai collection'. She helped him to look through all of the boxes again, and then sighed in defeat when they still couldn't find his clothes. "I think you'll have to wear some of the clothes I bought you until we can go through the rest of the boxes Ranma. It looks like some of the boxes were misplaced."  
"What? No way, Mom…"  
  
"Now Ranma, there is nothing wrong with wearing female clothing when you're a girl. You should wear the appropriate underwear at the very least."  
  
"Mom, I'm a GUY!" Ranma whined in annoyance.  
  
"Yes Ranma, I know. I did change your diapers for over a year. But I don't want you to walk around without underwear. So unless you want to wear what you had on before your shower, and until we find the rest of your clothes, you will have to wear the clothes that I bought for Ranko last year."  
  
"But…"  
  
"Change quickly dear, we still have a lot of boxes to unpack before we can eat dinner."  
  
"Oh alright, I'll be down in five minutes."  
  
Nodoka nodded and left her son's room, walking down the stairs to the combine lounge/kitchen/dining room of the apartment that she and Ranma had just leased in Okayama. In the three weeks since she had told Ranma about his father, many things had changed. Nodoka's marriage to Genma Saotome had been declared illegal, and all of his agreements with other clans had been declared null and void. Seven engagements that she and Ranma hadn't even known existed had been revealed during the proceeding, but, as the judge had said, they were Genma's responsibility now. Nodoka had also sold the house her parents had left to her in their will, and given Ukyou the current market value for the yatai Genma had stolen. She had also spoken to Elder Cologne about Shampoo, but had discovered that this problem had already been taken care of.  
  
"When the injury to Ranma's brain was discovered, he was immediately disqualified as a suitor for Shampoo." Cologne had told Nodoka with a pained expression.  
  
"But… Why?"  
  
"Our laws are very specific about anyone who is mentally defective or brain damaged. If there is anything like that, even if it is only suspected, the individual is considered ineligible for marriage. Our laws are written to improve the tribe, and such things are considered a danger to the next generation." Nodoka nodded, trying to hide her smile as she left the ancient matriarch to continue her packing, relieved at how easily Ranma had gotten out of the one engagement that was actually his own fault.  
  
Nodoka smiled again at the memory, and went back to unpacking the collection of Japanese and English antiques that had been in storage for the past seventeen years. The majority of the collection was made up of swords and armor, unusual for a woman, but then Nodoka was an unusual woman. She had just finished putting a Scottish rapier on its stand in a corner when her son-now-daughter came into the room dressed in a pair of black denim overalls and a black anime t-shirt. Ranma looked at the antiques in the room in amazement before turning to her mom with a question.  
  
"Hey, what's with all the hardware mom? Are we getting ready for a war or something?"  
  
"No dear, I'm just putting up some decorations that your father and I bought just after we married." Nodoka smiled as she remembered the fun they'd had buying each item. "Your father and I were both fascinated by the feudal periods in both our homelands. We were also both trained in the art of the sword. We often sparred with each other, teaching techniques that we thought the other would like."  
  
"Wow! Umm… Mom? Do you think you could teach me some of what dad taught you? I know that Pop… I mean Genma, was always saying that weapons would make me weak, but after seeing how stupid he really is, I think I would be safe questioning every thing he told me."  
  
"I would be happy to teach you Ranma. I only wish your father could teach you…" Nodoka sighed and shook her head. If Ranma hadn't shown any abilities in that direction by now, he didn't have them.  
  
"Teach me what Mom?"  
  
"Your father had certain abilities, certain powers that made him a formidable opponent even without his skill as a swordsman."  
  
"What kind of abilities? Was he a martial artist too?"  
  
"Your father was what his people called a wizard Ranma. He could use magic to do many amazing things. He could even change forms at will into the large dog that was the model for my pendant. That is why I wondered about the dog you saw. It might have been your father in disguise."  
  
"Magic? You mean like abracadabra and stuff like that?"  
  
"Ranma! Never use those words again!"  
  
"What? What did I say?" Nodoka saw that Ranma was surprised by her tone, and tried to calm down.  
  
"I'm sorry Ranma, I overreacted. Still, you must be careful what you say. Those words are the focus for one of the worst, the most unforgivable curses known to wizard-kind. It's called the killing curse, because, in a very real sense, it will kill anyone and anything that it touches, whether you are the target, or simply in the way. I saw it used during the attack on the train. One of our attackers threw this curse at me. I dodged it, but a man standing behind me did not. He died instantly." Ranma stared at her mother, trying to imagine something that powerful, and failing. With a shiver, she tried to put it from her mind, grinning sheepishly when her stomach growled. Nodoka smiled back at her and shook her head in disbelief. "I know that you started another growth spurt Ranma, be we ate only an hour ago."  
  
"I know, and I'm really not that hungry anyway." Ranma laughed when her stomach seemed to contradict her. "I'm not! How about we finish unpacking this room and our bedrooms, then go to the market, and get some food for dinner. The stalls should still be open around four. Besides, maybe we'll find my clothes so I can change before we go out."  
  
"But why? You look so cute in that outfit." Nodoka laughed at the disgusted expression on Ranma's face. The two women worked together quickly, getting the front room organized quickly and both of their bedrooms done a short time later. Unfortunately, it became obvious that the movers had left some boxes behind when they had made their pickup at the Tendo Dojo. "Well, I guess we'll have to go back to the Tendos' tomorrow morning to get the rest of your things."  
  
"At least Genma won't be there. It was funny when Nabiki found out that he'd been freeloading there under false pretenses, and she called the police to claim the reward offered for his arrest. The expression on his face was priceless."  
  
"Yes it was rather amusing, wasn't it? I think his expression when I told him we were never married was even better though. He thought he could hold out for half of what I owned, but he didn't get anything." They locked the door to their apartment and walked toward the nearby market district to do their shopping.  
  
"You know Mom, wearing these clothes _does_ feel better in this form. I never thought about it before, but even the underwear feels better. Not that I want to be a girl though."  
  
"Of course not Ranma and I wouldn't want you to be a girl if it made you feel bad about yourself. I just want you to know that I love you, regardless of the body you're in at the moment."  
  
"Thanks Mom, I love you too. It just feels _weird_ to be comfortable as a girl though."  
  
"I can only imagine dear." Nodoka chuckled at the annoyed expression on Ranma's face. Come along Ranma we need to get our shopping done quickly so we can eat and get to bed. We have many things to do tomorrow." Ranma and Nodoka went through the market, and were on their way home an hour later as the sun began to set. Nodoka smiled as she watched Ranma dancing along a fence several feet in front of her. It was only by chance that she saw what happened next.  
  
A tractor-trailer lost control coming down a hill into town and smashed through several stalls, driving people out of the street ahead of it in terror. Ranma started across the intersection at the same instant the tractor-trailer entered it, heading straight for her. Nodoka froze in horror as her daughter walked into the street, oblivious to the tons of speeding death bearing down on her. Nodoka was afraid to shout a warning, knowing that if she did, Ranma would stop and lose the few seconds of motion that might save her. With every ounce of her will, she prayed for Ranma to notice the oncoming truck, but she didn't'. Then the thing Nodoka most feared happened.  
  
"You girl, get out of the road!" A man shouted from the other street, causing Ranma to stop and look around in confusion. When she saw the truck, it was much too late to get out of the way. She crossed her arms in front of herself instinctively as the people in the street turned away, unwilling to watch such a beautiful young girl turned into paste. Nodoka continued to watch, praying to all of the kami for a miracle as the shadow of the speeding truck fell on Ranma. No one seemed to here her prayer and she steeled herself to watch her child die.  
  
Then Ranma disappeared.  
  
Nodoka looked around feverishly, hoping to see her daughter clinging to a building or maybe to the truck itself, even on a light post, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Nodoka felt the blood leave her face as she turned back to the street, expecting to see her daughter's broken body lying there. Ranma wasn't there either. Nodoka was becoming frantic when the cell phone she had bought a week ago rang, making her jump. "Moshi-Moshi?"  
  
"M…Mom?"  
  
"Ranma! Where are you?" Nodoka looked around her, trying to find where she was calling from."  
  
"Umm… you won't believe me. Mom, could you come to Tokyo with a change of clothes and some money for train fare back to Okayama?"  
  
"I would be happy to Ranma, but where are you? How will I find you? And how did you get back to Tokyo?"  
  
"I don't know how Mom, but one minute that truck was almost on top of me, the next I falling into the Tendos' koi pond." Nodoka pulled her phone away from her ear, and stared at it in shock for several minutes and then started to laugh softly. After a moment, she put the phone back to her ear.  
  
"Mom! Mom, are you still there?"  
  
"I'm right here Ranma. I'll have to go back to the apartment and drop out food off first, but I should be able to make the seven o'clock bullet train. Do you think it would be alright with the Tendos if we stay the night there, before catching the early bullet train back?"  
  
"Hold on, I'll check." Ranma could be heard talking to someone on the other end, probably Nabiki based on the squawk of protest about a high price. There were some rapid-fire negotiation, and the Ranma came back on with a sigh. "It should be fine mom, but could you bring the box with my Happosai collection in it? Nabiki wants a full spread of lingerie pictures to make up for lost business since I left."  
  
"Are you sure Ranma, we could stay in hotel instead."  
  
"It's no problem Mom, it's just she found out I was wearing a bra and panties, and wants to sell some pictures to Kuno to get him off her case. After this, it's over."  
  
"All right dear, I'll meet you at the Nerima station at about eleven tonight."  
  
"See you then Mom."  
  
Nodoka pressed the cancel button on her phone and hurried back to the apartment. As she gathered the clothes Ranma had asked for she started to smile. "Oh Sirius, you would be so proud of our child. Boy or girl, he is so helpful and kind. And he's a wizard."  
  
**********  
  
"Auror Ninomiya, have you located the suspect?"  
  
"No sir," Hinako Ninomiya said as she watched the Tendo compound from the roof of a building a few blocks away. "All I can is the members of the household and the Jusenkyo curse victim I was sent here to monitor."  
  
"Are you sure that is the same person? You'll need a deep aura scan to be positive. Remember, the English Ministry of Magic still hasn't found that unlicensed animagus that broke out of Azkaban Prison three years ago. For all we know, he could have killed Saotome and taken his place." Hinako sighed and drew her wand from its holster between her shoulder blades. She hated doing deep scans, especially high powered martial artists like Ranma. They usually glowed so brightly, they gave her a headache for the rest of the day from the glare. Pointing her wand at herself, she muttered "_Verus Auro Videre._" As she finished the last word, the colors around her seemed to change. Everything alive gave off a faint glow. The rest glowed from the energy the living things gave off naturally.  
  
Steeling herself for the next step, she pointed her wand at Ranma and muttered "_Auro Videre Profundo._" Hinako gasped as the light surrounding Ranma intensified. She winced as she tried to focus; it was like forcing herself to stare into the sun. She was almost about to cancel the spell when she noticed a strange flare. Swallowing and willing herself to get passed the pain she muttered a third spell. "_Magia Segregare Viderus._" The light around everything winked out with the exception of the light around Ranma and a pattern of light she recognized immediately.  
  
"Sir I have confirmed that the unlicensed apparation ended within the Tendo compound, and that the person who appears to be Ranma Saotome does have an identifiable magical pattern. It appears that the unlicensed apparator was Saotome as the apparation ended above the Tendo's koi pond and she appears to be the only one who is wet."  
  
"We are sending an observation team to your location now. Continue to watch this wizard or witch, and stay at a distance. If this is Sirius Black, we don't want to tip him off that we know he's there. Once the surveillance team arrives, report back to head quarters to have your aura reading recorded. We need to send the information off to London for verification."  
  
"Understood," Hinako said, watching her suspect carefully and noting the odd flares in their magical aura. "Strange, that looks like the aura of a magic _student_, not someone wanted for the magical murders of thirteen people. Unless those people died by accident." The surveillance team arrive ten minutes later, and Hinako sighed in relief when she could let her spell collapse. She winced when the headache she was expecting made itself known. After telling her replacements what was going on, Miss Hinako apparated away. Ten minutes later, the recording of the suspicious aura was on its way to London.  
  



	4. Chapter 3: Shocks and Misunderstandings

Disclaimer: The characters and concepts employed in this story are the sole property of their respective creators or those people to whom they have seen fit to sell their rights. The author of this story makes no claims except where the character or concept is original. In other words, what's mine is mine, what's theirs is theirs, so leave me alone all ready!

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion

By

Lord Dragonbane

………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 3: Shocks and Misunderstandings

………………………………………………………………………

Harry ducked his head out of his room and listened for a moment to make sure that no one was around. After a quick glance assured him that his early morning activities would go unnoticed by the other people in the house, he opened his bedroom door completely and went back in. He came back out dragging his trunk behind him. Harry slid the trunk down the hall and then eased it down the stairs as quietly as possible. Going back to his room, he left a note on the bed and picked up Hedwig's empty cage, closing the door to his room for the last time. Feeling as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders, he went downstairs picked up one end of his trunk and walked out the front door.

"I don't care what Dumbledore says, I am never coming back here." Harry muttered as he struggled toward the local park, two blocks away.

"Going somewhere, Potter?" a gruff, and apparently disembodied, voice asked from nearby. Harry dropped his trunk and drew his wand, frantically looking around for the source of the comment. After a moment, two figures appeared in a swirl of fabric. Harry was halfway through casting a disarming charm when he recognized one of the figures as 'Mad-eye' Moody.

"Prof…I mean, Sir? What are you doing here?"

Moody smirked at his expression. Moody looked like he always did, his magic eye whirling insanely. Tonks on the other hand had changed drastically from the last time. Instead of the drab, black haired schoolteacher he had seen before, she was now a gorgeous redhead. Their muggle clothes were also a stark contrast. While Moody was dressed in a ratty tweed suit, Tonks was wearing a tight fitting outfit of black jeans and a dress shirt that only served to emphasize the change. Harry realized he had been staring at her when she smirked and waved her hand in front of his face.

"So Harry, you like red-heads do you?" she teased, her smile getting even broader as Harry blushed.

"Um... Yeah, I guess." At Tonks questioning look, he felt his face getting hotter. "You kind of remind me of my mom." Tonks looked a little displeased at the comparison to his mother, but then grinned mischievously.

"Not getting an oedipal complex are you?" At Harry's disgusted expression, she laughed and helped Moody pick up Harry's trunk. "So where are we taking all of this?"

"I was going to the park, so that I could wait for Mr. Weasley and Professor Lupin without having to deal with the Dursleys." Moody grunted and glared at the house behind them.

"They haven't been mistreating you again have they boy. I meant what I said in June."

"They weren't too bad until I let slip yesterday that Sirius was dead." Harry said with a shrug. "After that, I just don't want to deal with them."

"Are they really that bad?" Tonks asked curiously, absently smiling at an older man who tipped his hat in her direction. "The members of my dad's family are all muggles, and they've always been pretty nice to me; even when I break something at their house." Harry sighed and shrugged again as they came to a stop near one of the benches and set everything they were carrying down. Harry sat in the middle of the bench with Moody and Tonks on either side of him.

"When they found out about Sirius yesterday, they started celebrating. They were happy that he was dead! Dudley was the worst, probably because he was scared the most. Now that they know he's dead though, they feel like they can treat me however they like. Aunt Petunia even started planning a party for tomorrow." Tonks and Moody looked shocked for an instant, and then Moody got a grim expression on his face.

"Those muggles have got to learn that they need to be careful. Voldemort would just love to give you one less place to hide from him." Tonks nodded, looking outraged and glaring around as if looking for something to hex. When she looked back at Harry and saw that he was struggling to hold back tears, she forced herself to relax and slowly put her arm around his shoulder. "I know that it's hard to believe right now Harry, but it will get better. No, Not easier, never easier, but it does get better. It's as they were saying during one of my last classes in auror training. 'It's not the victims who suffer most under a Dark Lord, but the survivors'."

Harry stared at Tonks and noticed that Moody was nodding in agreement. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"The ones who die or are tortured only suffer for a short while, boy." Moody replied gruffly, his stare making Harry uncomfortable. "The survivors, the ones that don't get hit, always feel that they could have done something about the others. That they could have somehow prevented what happened to their friends. What they don't seem to get is that worse might have happened if they'd tried to help."

"But I should have known, should have realized..."

"Potter, if I had a Knut for every time I'd said that, I would be richer than Lucius Malfoy." Harry stared at Moody, surprised at the caring tone in his voice. "True seers are extremely rare, even amongst magical folk, and no one can truly know the future. What is important is how you react to what you know. You have good instincts, boy, and that's what matters."

"But it was a trap. Sirius wasn't even there... All I had to do was use the two-way mirror he gave me..."

"No one told you? That elf hid the mirror from Sirius." Tonks said, shaking in rage at the thought of a house-elf betraying his wizard. "Molly found it when she was cleaning his room, after..."

"Kreacher? He's the one who told me Sirius wasn't there!"

"Don't worry Harry, he's been dealt with." At Harry's confused expression, she smiled. "House elves have their own ways of dealing with traitors. He will never betray anyone again." Harry nodded and smiled a little, realizing that there was actually little he could have done. Recognizing his need for silence, Moody and Tonks sat back, and the trio spent the next half-hour watching people walk by. After a short while, several mothers and grandmothers started bringing children to the park. Harry watched the children enviously, watching a young mother help her son build a castle in the sand box.

"Cute kid, isn't he?" Tonks said, grinning at Harry's surprised expression. "What? Just because I'm clumsy some times doesn't mean that I'm blind. I notice things; I just don't always pay attention." Moody snorted, shaking his head.

"Aurors today... I'm not surprised that the Minister has been getting away with lying about the snake. No one is calling him on it." Tonks smirked at Moody then jumped when he spoke again. "It's about time you two got here. The boy has been sitting out in the open for half-an-hour." Tonks and Harry looked around, and then looked behind them, finally catching sight of the Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin coming up the path from the car park. The men looked surprised at Moody's comment and Arthur became agitated.

"We were expecting meet you at your home Harry. Why are you in the park?"

"He had a good reason, Arthur," Tonks replied, glaring toward Privet Drive. "We need to be going. Harry needs to be at the Burrow before Moldyshorts figures out that he's in the open." Mr. Weasley nodded and drew car keys from his pocket while Remus and Moody picked up Harry's trunk while Tonks grabbed Hedwig's cage and Harry followed them. When they came to a large black sedan, Tonks gaped at it, the stared at Arthur Weasley.

"The Ministry gave you one of the new Benz S55's!" Tonks stared at the car in wonder, blushing when Remus and Moody laughed. After the trunk and cage were loaded into the boot, Harry was bundled into the middle of the back seat. Tonks and Moody took the side seats in the back while Lupin and Weasley sat in the front. As they were driving off, Harry noticed a difference from the Dursley's car.

"Why are the windows so thick? They must be at least 20 millimeters!"

"Bullet-proof glass," Tonks said with a grin. "These cars were bought by the ministry to protect visitors who might be in danger. How did you get one Arthur?"

"I might as well ask you something similar. What are you doing here? I thought Albus assigned Alastor to guard Harry today."

"He did. I'm here in an official capacity."

"As what?" Mr. Weasley was suddenly paying more attention to Tonks than the road. When Remus had to yank the steering to get them back into the correct lane, he went back to his driving.

"The Minister of Magic requested an auror be placed to watch Harry's movements in order to, and I quote, 'prevent certain subversive groups from obtaining legitimacy through association,' end quote. It sounds to me like he's trying to keep young mister Potter away from the Order. Fortunately, he doesn't know how badly the ministry had been penetrated." Moody laughed and muttered something that sounded like 'ostrich' while Lupin and Mr. Weasley nodded in agreement.

Harry watched nervously as Mr. Weasley navigated the streets of Little Whinging, narrowly avoiding collisions often and smiling at the drivers who swore at him. When they finally reached the motorway, Harry relaxed a little, and then jumped in surprise when Remus dropped a scroll in his lap.

"What's this?" Harry asked, unrolling the scroll a little and seeing the handwriting on the parchment. Looking up at Remus, he was startled to see a confused expression on his face.

"I don't really know... Professor Dumbledore gave it to me when he told me I would be coming with Arthur this morning. He didn't say what was in it, just that it was part of the agreement you made with him after you got back from the ministry last month." Harry nodded and went back to reading. He quickly realized that the scroll contained the reports that members of the Order of the Phoenix had given Dumbledore over the past month and a half since school had been out. Harry focused on the reports in moments and didn't realize that Tonks was looking over his shoulder until he came to the report she had made after visiting him three weeks before, and she gasped.

"What do you have there Harry," She demanded, looking at it more closely. "How did you get your hands on that report?"

"Report?" Moody asked looking at the scroll, then at Tonks in confusion. "What are you talking about, theirs nothing on the scroll."

"Are you kidding me? Harry was reading the report I made to Dumbledore three weeks ago. What I want to know is how he got it."

"You heard Remus, Albus sent it to him." Moody replied, not taking his magical eye off the scroll. "There is a low level magical field surrounding the thing. I think Albus may have put a spell on it so that only Harry could read it."

"Then why can I see my report?"

"Then you can probably read it, because it is your report. I have no doubt that were Harry to be reading my report now, I would also be able to read it while you would not. Such spells often work that way." Harry filed that away in his memory to think about later, and went back to reading the reports. He smirked at how different Bill's report of their visit was than Tonks. It seemed the oldest Weasley brother hadn't noticed how eager the Dursley's had been for them to leave. He also hadn't noticed that there were no signs that Harry even lived at privet drive. Tonks had, which made Harry feel a little better. At least someone had noticed that there was something wrong on Privet Drive.

………………………………………………………………………

"Message coming in!" A chime rang through the almost deserted Department of Magical Law Enforcement offices; the only person there sighed and came to his feet, wondering what monumental waste of time had come into his life this time. All of the Aurors in the department were out on assignment or currently in Hospital, leaving the Duty Auror to his endless job.

He quickly changed his mind however when he read the contents of the message from Japan. Rushing over to the fireplace, he made three fire calls in quick succession. One was to the Minister of Magic's office, then one to the head of his department, and the third to the senior case officer. He found himself envying Kingsley Shacklebolt and his luck.

Two months without a lead and suddenly, his quarry had dropped into his lap.

Sirius Black had been found!

………………………………………………………………………

"Mum! They're here!" Harry heard Ron shouting as everyone got out of the car. There was a clattering in the house, and then the door burst open. Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George boiled out of the house and rushed the car, while Mrs. Weasley followed at a much more sedate pace. Ginny slowed down and looked at Harry questioningly while the boys surrounded him, pumping his hand, and slapping him on the back.

"Harry it's so good to see you." Mrs. Weasley said, beaming at the black haired boy surrounded by the read heads. "But I can't say much for your relatives. Do they never feed you?" She looked over his painfully skinny frame and shook her head sadly.

"Don't worry mum, you can always fatten him up a little before school starts." One of the twins, Harry thought it was George, said with an impish grin on his face. Harry gave him a weak grin in return. Mrs. Weasley enveloped him in a warm hug, and suddenly Harry couldn't take it anymore. With a mumbled apology, he broke away from Mrs. Weasley and the others and ran toward the tree house Ron had showed him the last time he was here. Harry heard shouting behind him, but ignored it as he reached the ladder that still hung down from the structure in the huge tree. Swarming up the ladder and pulling it up after him, he gained the tree house and collapsed into the chair he found nearby, sobbing.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Ron shouted up at the tree house. Harry ignored him, after a few more attempts, Ron went back to the house, and Harry was alone again. He felt the darkness settle over him again.

He didn't know how long he had been alone when he felt something touch his shoulder. He jumped out of the chair and spun around with his wand in his hand.

Only to stare at the girl he saw standing there. "G... Ginny?"

"Ron said you were up here but wouldn't answer. He said you just wanted to be left alone."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because Harry, I can't let you sit here alone in your grief. I know you probably don't care, but I would be lying if I said it didn't tear me apart to see you crying alone."

"I deserve to be alone; everyone who cares about me dies."

"That's not true, Harry. My mum and dad love you, and they're still alive. Ron and Hermione care, and they're still alive. And... Harry... I care. I'm still alive, only because of you, not in spite of you."

"But Sirius..."

"Died because Voldemort set a trap for you and his own cousin cursed him. You know that you didn't do anything wrong Harry, but I want to tell you that I know it too."

Harry stared at her in shock, amazed by the simple way that she said that, the pure honesty shining from her face. When he saw that, he felt a glimmer of hope start in him that he hadn't felt since he'd heard the prophecy that had brought him to Voldemort's attention when he was barely a year old. He started to smile shyly.

Ginny smiled at him in return, and he felt an unexpected surge of warmth at that smile. Without knowing why, Harry found himself suddenly lost in the dark brown depths of her eyes, drawn toward them. Then they kissed, and Harry stopped thinking.

Eventually they had to stop to breath, and that was when it hit him. 'Ginny! I was kissing Ginny! Ron is going to kill me!' Harry was panicking, when he heard a sleepy sounding voice.

"That was nice Harry; did you learn that from Cho?"

"What? No! I mean… did you really like it?" Harry was surprised at himself. This was Ginny; Ron's little sister. What was he thinking? What was he doing? "No… kissing her was never like that." Harry almost slapped himself the instant he said that, thinking 'Way to go Potter, tell the girl you just finished snogging… NO!! BAD!!! RON'S SISTER!!!!'

"Really?" Ginny sat up suddenly so she could look Harry in the eyes. "You're not just saying that are you." What ever she was looking for, she obviously found because Harry was suddenly on the receiving end of a powerful kiss that made him feel like his head would explode.

"Harry James Potter, come down here this instant." Molly Weasley's voice rang through the air, causing the teens to jump apart quickly. Ginny motioned for Harry to go down first as she put her hair back in order. Harry grinned at her, blushing a little, and then came out of the tree house. "I know you are missing Sirius dear, but it doesn't help to be alone. It's times like these that you need your friends and family the most. Now come down from there and go into the house. Arthur needs your help with one of his Muggle devices."

Harry fought down the anger he felt from her bossy tone, recognizing it for the motherly tone she used on Ron and Ginny. With a silent chuckle at the soft 'squeak' that he heard from Ginny when she realized her mother was still there, Harry climbed down the ladder and made a spur of the moment decision. Suddenly wrapping his arms around Mrs. Weasley, he gave her a tight hug, making her squeak in surprise.

"Thanks for caring Mrs. Weasley; I'm feeling a lot better." Molly Weasley smiled and returned the hug. Stepping back, he smiled in return and started toward the house. "What is it that Mister Weasley found this time?"

"Something called a 'Tele,' whatever that means. He says that it is supposed to be a device that shows moving pictures; As if pictures didn't move already." Harry laughed, and shook his head, trying to think of how to explain television to the Weasleys.

………………………………………………………………………

"Molly has him." Remus said coming back from the window. Arthur Weasley nodded, while Tonks sighed.

"Why does life have to be so hard for him?" She asked, shifting her hair from its vibrant red to a dull, lifeless black. "Is it too much to ask that he get a break?"

"You-know-who doesn't believe in giving people breaks, unless they're dead, and even then he might not." Moody growled. "Potter just had the very bad luck to come to his attention at a young age."

"It's not fair," Tonks huffed. She was about to say something else when a head appeared in the kitchen fire.

"Arthur? Molly? Anyone there?" Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice rang through the kitchen. Arthur Weasley came to his feet and walked over to the fire, a questioning look on his face. "Ah you've arrived Arthur. Are Moody and Tonks there?"

"What is it boy?" Moody asked, noting the excitement on Shacklebolt's face.

"We just got a report from Japan, with a confirmed sighting of Sirius Black."

"That's impossible..." The occupants of the kitchen jumped when they heard Harry's voice. He was standing in the doorway, staring at Shacklebolt's head in the fire. "Sirius fell through the Veil of Souls in the Department of Mysteries. He can't be in Japan."

"I know what you and Dumbledore saw Harry, but this sighting included a magic signature close enough to be a match. Since we know that Sirius was the last living member of the Black family, it has to be him. I need Tonks and Moody as part of my team when we go to pick him up."

"But..."

"I know you don't want him to be captured Harry, but at least he's still alive." Harry nodded and slumped into a chair at the kitchen table. Molly put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "We'll let you know how he is when we get back. I promise you this though; Sirius will get a trial this time. I'm not letting Fudge even start to act like Barty Crouch did during the last war. Moody, Tonks, we're leaving in fifteen minutes." Shacklebolt's head disappeared and Moody grabbed a handful of floo powder, vanishing with a shout of "Auror Staging Area!" Tonks grabbed a hand full for herself.

"Don't worry Harry, if it is Sirius, we won't let him go back to Azkaban." Harry nodded his thanks, and she disappeared in a flash of flame, following Moody. With a sigh, he got back to his feet and made his way toward the stairs.

"Harry..."

"Don't worry Ma'am; I'm just going to take a nap. I haven't really been sleeping well." Mrs. Weasley nodded sympathetically and followed him up to the door to Ron's room.

"Sleep well dear; we will come to wake you if there is any news." Harry nodded, relieved that the room was empty. Stripping down to his underwear, he slipped into the bed he'd used every time he'd stayed here. As he fell asleep, he caught himself praying that Sirius was safe.

………………………………………………………………………

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Kingsley Shacklebolt said to the group of ten aurors gathered in the staging area. "At approximately 2000 local time, an auror for the Japanese Ministry of Magic was sent to investigate a report of an unlicensed apparator in the Nerima ward of Tokyo. When she arrived, she found nothing out of the ordinary, until she used an aura perception spell."

"So why are we here?" A tall, Nordic, blonde-haired woman demanded. "Unlicensed Apparition is an internal matter."

"This auror is an unusual case. She can sense and record magical auras. When she was relieved by an observation team, she checked her scan against the aura records at their offices and came up with the record we sent out when Sirius Black escaped."

"Black is in Japan?"

"That's what we're going there to find out. We'll travel by portkey to the main Tokyo auror office, where we'll meet this witch, who will then take us to the target location. Moody will use his eye to confirm or deny the identification of the target."

"And if it is Black?" The blonde was looking rather nervous now. "We're talking about the man who turned the Potters over to you-know-who... the lunatic who blew up a street full of muggles just to kill one wizard."

"If it is Black, then we capture him by any means necessary. Remember, Fudge wants him alive for questioning, so no killing curses, and no wild spells. We are all professionals. Let's act like it." Reaching down, he picked up the hula-hoop lying at his feet and the auror team grabbed hold of it. A minute later, they all felt a sharp tug behind their navels and the ten aurors vanished.

………………………………………………………………………

Ranma snorted and sat up in bed, wondering what had woken him up. He expanded his senses outward, noting and moving on when he sensed the Tendos, his mother, and Happosai. When he couldn't detect anything unusual anywhere near the house, he continued expanding his senses to the edge of the property. "Still nothing... wait..." Ranma's senses went on full alert as he felt a surge of energy just outside the main gate. Ranma shivered a little as he felt a barrier form between the dojo and the rest of the world.

Rolling off his futon, Ranma moved silently through the house to Akane's room, where his mother was sleeping. Keeping his senses expanded, he moved to the western style bed that Akane had preferred and shook his mother awake.

"Ranma?" She asked blinking blearily.

"Mom, I think someone is attacking the house. We need to get out of here." Nodoka was instantly awake and sitting up in bed.

"Do you know who it is?" She asked, getting out of bed and pulling her robe on over her nightgown.

"No I don't, but their auras are powerful, and they did something to block the ki field outside the dojo. I can't feel anything past the perimeter wall. I'll get Kasumi and Nabiki out. You need to wake Soun up and see if you can hold them off." Nodoka nodded and smiled, realizing how much Ranma trusted her to ask her to back him up. They separated, and Ranma went to Nabiki's room. He tried to wake her, but she was too asleep. Feeling the press of time, He went to wake up Kasumi, hoping she would know a way to get Nabiki out of bed quietly. She was just stirring, as all hell broke loose.

………………………………………………………………………

"Alright, now everyone knows the plan. Go in and take everyone down, but remember, only use stunners. We want them alive for questioning." Kingsley waited until everyone had nodded in agreement then turned to Moody. "Have you confirmed it yet Alastor?"

"I did that when we got here. The energy signature is coming from..." Moody swore as his eye revealed something to him as he concentrated on the house. "We have movement in the house. Black and two others are moving around. Someone must have tipped them off."

"No one knew about this operation except us." Hinako argued, angry at his implication.

"It doesn't matter how they know. Get in your positions now people. We move in five minutes. Moody, Tonks you're with me." The aurors scattered, surrounding the compound. Once everyone was in position, Kingsley sent off purple sparks, signaling for everyone to move in. That was when all hell broke loose.

………………………………………………………………………

Ranma swore when he felt fifteen people cross the perimeter wall as a group. "This is a coordinated assault, not just a random attack." Ranma smirked as he saw part of the assault group recoil when his mom and Soun attacked them from the house, then shook himself out of his stupor. Kasumi blinked at him owlishly, and Ranma realized that he would have to carry her out and come back for Nabiki after Kasumi was safe. With that in mind, Ranma scooped Kasumi into his arms and jumped out of the window.

Kasumi's shriek drew attention to them, but Ranma and Kasumi were on the roof of the house next door an instant later and moving rapidly away. Two minutes and two kilometers later, Ranma set Kasumi on her feet and headed back to the dojo. Ranma made it past the attackers easily, and made it through the upstairs window just before a shower of red sparks crashed into frame of the window.

Ranma ran to Nabiki's room, swearing to himself, and picked her up as gently as he could. He was about to jump out of the window when he heard a shriek of pain. Setting Nabiki down, he ran to the front window and glanced out the window.

Soun was on the ground unconscious as were several attackers. One of the attackers was lying on the ground bleeding, but Nodoka was fighting a losing battle to keep them from getting behind her. Ranma was about to jump down and help her when she noticed him.

"Ranma, get Nabiki out of here!" The distraction was enough for one of the attacker to find an opening, and Ranma groaned as his mother went down in a shower of sparks. Swearing to himself, Ranma ran back to the bedroom and picked Nabiki up, and moved toward the widow as he heard running steps on the stairs. Making a decision, Ranma dove out the window, grinning as red sparks followed him out the window. An instant later, he had hit his stride and was dashing away across the rooftops.

………………………………………………………………………

"What the hell?" Shacklebolt stared out the window as their target vanished into the distance, carrying someone else as he ran and jumped across the rooftops at unbelievable speeds. "How does he do that?" Tonks could only nod as she followed the fleeing figure with her eyes.

"Shacklebolt-san, the two prisoners have been secured. Where is the target?"

"He escaped." Kingsley grunted, and then turned to the Japanese witch. "We need some brooms." She nodded and spoke to one of the aurors from her office. He disappeared, and a moment later returned with four Raiden type II brooms. Hinako handed each of them a broom and they jumped into the air and flew after their fleeing target.

………………………………………………………………………

"Saotome put me down," Nabiki shouted struggling against his hold. "What are you doing?"

"Someone attacked the dojo," Ranma said stopping on a roof and setting her on her feet. "I don't know who they were, but my mom was talking about some 'wizards' who tried to kill her and my dad before I was born."

"Wizards? Come on Saotome, next thing you'll tell me is that you're a wizard."

"Actually... Oh crap." Ranma picked Nabiki up again without an explanation and started running again.

"Saotome, what... Are those the wizards? Are they flying on brooms?" Ranma ignored her questions as he ran as fast as he could. Red light splashed around him, but Ranma dodged them easily, using his chi senses to keep track of the energy his pursuers were using.

Ranma continued dodging, but he soon realized that the people who were chasing him could probably keep this up a lot longer than he could. Coming to a decision, he landed on a roof, set Nabiki down, and turned to face the people chasing him.

The flyers flashed past his rooftop and came around in wide sweeping curves. Ranma was about to shout at them when a booming voice crashed over them, speaking English.

"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Step away from the girl, and don't make any sudden moves. We won't hesitate to kill you." Ranma glanced at Nabiki who was staring at him in confusion. Deciding to play along for now, Ranma moved away from her, but kept himself between her and the people in the air. The four flyers landed on the roof, and Ranma noticed his English teacher.

"Hinako-sensei? You're a wizard?"

"Shut up, Black," Shacklebolt growled, keeping his wand trained on the young Asian. Tonks moved around behind Ranma and grabbed Nabiki's arm pulling her away from him. When he tried to help Nabiki, the other two moved in holding their wands on him. Once Tonks was clear, the three aurors moved to surround Ranma. "Sirius Black, by the authority of the British Ministry of Magic and by permission of the International Confederation of Wizards I place you under restraint."

Ranma watched Shacklebolt closely and when he started moving his wand tensed his muscles. At the last moment, as Ranma felt the energy gathering in the wand Shacklebolt was pointing at him, he dove out of the way. The spell struck the other male auror, encasing him in a glowing energy field. Hinako cast a stunner at Ranma, which he dodged easily. Soon he was bouncing around, laughing as the two wizards had to dodge each other's spells. This went on for several minutes until one of the spells hit Nabiki, making her slump to the ground. Ranma growled and glared at the two magic users as his battle aura flared, and with a shout of "Moko Takabisha!" threw a ki bolt at the British auror.

………………………………………………………………………

Tonks glared at the boy they'd caught, and then moved around him to grab the girl he'd carried for the last ten kilometers without even breaking a sweat. The girl struggled against her, but Tonks ignored that, keeping her eyes on the target. When Kingsley made the standard declaration of restraint required by wizarding law, she relaxed glad the chase was over.

Then everything went south.

Shacklebolt's restraining charm was just leaving his wand when the boy moved, as if he'd known it was coming, and the spell hit the Japanese auror behind him. The boy was moving so fast that Ninomiya and Shacklebolt had to dodge each other's stunners. As time went by the two aurors started getting sloppy with their aim and one of the stunners hit the girl Tonks was guarding. Tonks stared in awe as pure energy gathered around their target as he shook with rage. The other two aurors kept casting spells at him, but the red sparks dissolved when they came within a few feet of their unmoving target, only seeming to boost the energy around him. He shouted something in Japanese, and the magic surrounding him collapsed into a glowing ball between his hands and shot at Shacklebolt. Kingsley was bathed in the glowing blue energy for several second before he flew backwards, his wand collapsing into a pile of ash when he slumped to the ground.

An instant later, the boy collapsed into unconsciousness.

"What the hell was that Ninomiya? How can he use that much magic without a wand? How can he use that much magic at all?"

"It wasn't all magic," the Japanese auror replied, checking the boy's vitals with a diagnostic spell. "This is Ranma Saotome, not Sirius Black. We went after the wrong person," Hinako swore violently to herself.

"What do you mean that wasn't all magic. Muggles can't do stuff like that." She pointed at Kingsley Shacklebolt who was lying against the wall he'd slammed into, his scorched outline still on the wall. "He burned out King's wand!"

"Ranma Saotome is one of the five most powerful martial artists in the known world, wizard, or muggle. Most of what hit your friend was a simple ki bolt. Think of it as concentrated life energy. Do remember that demi-god that the idiots on Phoenix Mountain summoned into their king's body?" Tonks nodded remembering a report she had read just after Dumbledore had left Hogwarts during the last year. "Ranma is the one who defeated it. Somehow, he was able to save Saffron at the same time, but he caused so much damage with ki bolts that the Beijing Ministry still hasn't solved all of their problems. Fortunately, that's mostly a muggle free area. Now, let's get everyone back to the Tendo dojo. We have enough problems without having to deal with the weirdoes that roam this town." Tonks nodded and walked over to Shacklebolt's crumpled form. After performing a diagnostic charm to make sure she wouldn't be injuring more than he already was, she levitated him over to the other unconscious figures. In the mean time, Ninomiya had released the other Japanese auror from the restraining charm and turned a piece of roofing tile into a portkey. Holding Shacklebolt's hand on the portkey, Tonks sighed, wondering what was going on. Then she felt the tell tale pull behind her navel and soon found herself in the yard of the house they attacked.

………………………………………………………………………

"Oh man, my head hurts," Ranma thought to himself as he slowly regained consciousness. Then the memories of the fight on the rooftop flooded in, and Ranma sat bolt upright.

"Ranma please, calm down!" Nodoka said placing her hand on his shoulder. He whirled on her, and then sighed in relief when he saw Kasumi and Nabiki sitting behind her.

"What happened?"

"You were hit by the stunning spell," Hinako said, coming into the room and looking at Ranma nervously. "Sorry about that."

"What?" Ranma stopped when he saw one of the wizards who had attacked the house come in. "What is he doing here?"

"Ranma, this is Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror from England." Nodoka explained, trying to calm her son. "He's a kind of magical police officer."

"If he's a cop, why did he attack us?"

"That's partly my fault," Hinako said, blushing when he glared at her. When Ranma looked at her questioningly, she blushed hotter and sighed. "When you apparated here from Okayama, The Ministry of Magic told me to come here, find out who was apparating without a license, and bring them in for violating of the International Secrecy Pact."

"I'm guessing you are a witch? An Auror?" Nodoka asked, smiling when the woman nodded, giving her a confused look. "My husband, Ranma's father, is a wizard. He told me a great deal about your world. He also told me if he ever disappeared and I was contacted by aurors, to ask to speak with Albus Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?" one of the British aurors asked, surprised at the mention of the name. "Who is your husband?"

"Genma Saotome is not a wizard," Hinako said, looking startled. "There is no way he could be a wizard."

"I wouldn't know, but you are probably right. I do know that my sense of justice would be offended if he were. But then, Genma Saotome isn't my husband, nor is he Ranma's father."

"Who is?"

"My husband's name is Sirius Black. Perhaps you've heard of him?" The aurors gasped in shock, talking rapidly amongst themselves. "I thought so."

"That explains why we thought... Ranma is it?" Moody grunted when Nodoka nodded. "If Ranma were Black's son it would explain why his magical signature looks like Black's. Though I do wonder why the Japanese Ministry didn't know about Ranma's magic."

"I've been monitoring Ranma for the last two years. He didn't show any signs of magical ability until today."

"According to the physicians who are treating him, Ranma suffered a skull fracture when he was young."

"Ah... Well I for one think we are done here." Kingsley sighed. "Thank you all for coming, I'll report to the ministry when I get back to England. Tonks, would you please ask Albus to join us at his earliest convenience? Moody, Ninomiya, and I will take care of repairing the damage to the Tendos' property," Tonks nodded and apparated away. Meanwhile, Ranma followed the three aurors out into the yard, watching in awe as shattered windows and damaged screens were repaired completely without any signs that they'd been broken in the first place. He was watching Hinako repair one of the statues that had been blown to pieces by a spell, when he heard the distinctive sound of someone apparating. Looking around, he saw that Tonks had returned with an old man who was talking to Ranma's mother, who smiled and motioned for Ranma to join them.

"Ah... So you are Ranma Black." the man, who must be this Dumbledore person his mom had asked for, said in fluent Japanese. "Yes, I can see your father in you. I knew him well... A very good man who was very loyal to those he loved."

"You say that you knew him..."

"Yes, as I was telling your mother, Sirius was killed fighting the dark wizards that she mentioned to you earlier. He was trying to rescue his godson who had been tricked into entering a trap."

"Professor..."

"I feel that I can trust them Nymphadora," Ranma smirked, and then laughed at the glare she threw at Dumbledore who smiled. "This development does change things somewhat though. Firstly, it means that we now have a means to fight Narcissa Malfoy's claim to the Black estate. Secondly, if Mrs. Black would be willing, we have the means to teach people to defend themselves, even without magic."

"What..."

"Mr. Dumbledore, what kind of teaching do you mean?" Nodoka asked the old wizard nervously. "My family style is sword-based and just that, a family style. I would need permission from the head of my family to teach anyone that style."

"I see... do you have any other conditions?" Tonks stared at Dumbledore and Nodoka, amazed at the respect she heard in Dumbledore's tone. Nodoka smiled and nodded.

"If I do agree to this, then Ranma must be permitted to attend Hogwarts as his father wished."

"Of course Mrs. Black, that was my intention from the beginning." Albus and Nodoka grinned at each other when Ranma groaned at the mention of school. "We do need to be going though. We need to get you settled before we can deal with your estate. There are some things that need to be taken care of immediately." Nodoka nodded again and came to her feet.

"Ranma, gather your belongings quickly." Ranma ran up to the guest room where he was sleeping. When he came back down, Professor Dumbledore shrank the box, and Ranma put it into his pocket. Nodoka told Dumbledore where her brother lived, and he created a portkey. Ranma watched as his mother, Dumbledore, Tonks, and Hinako touched the old shoe, then touched it himself and felt a sharp pull behind his navel.

Ranma tensed himself when he felt a strange fluttering in the ki around him, and then jumped when the group came to a sudden stop, landing in a dive-roll. Looking around at the formal arrangement of the buildings, he recognized the traditional architecture of Hokkaido, and gave his mother as confused look.

"Yes Ranma, my family is one of the old Samurai clans of Hokkaido. I hope that my brother will be willing to listen to me now. It didn't go well the last time I tried to visit." Ranma nodded, still recovering from the shock of this revelation. Nodoka moved toward the gate of the main house, and stopped when two men stepped out of the shadow on either side of it. They wore black suits and wore radio headsets. They looked the group over, and then spoke softly into their Radios while Nodoka waited patiently.

"Mrs. Saotome, your brother told you that you would not be welcome until you had repaired your honor by divorcing the thief. You have not done this."

"No I have not." Nodoka said, laughing when they looked at each other nervously. "There was no need, since our marriage was not valid. Would you please wake my brother so that I may explain it to him? I do not ask to enter, only to speak with him." One of the guards walked a short distance away and spoke softly into his radio, while the other guard watched the five people standing at the gate. A short time later, a man wearing the traditional kimono came out of the main house, and walked to the gate.

"Why have you returned Nodoka, and what is this nonsense about your marriage to Saotome being invalid? I was there. All of the rights were performed properly."

"The marriage was invalid because my first husband, who our parents claimed was dead, was in fact still alive. This gentleman and his friends brought proof that Sirius was alive when the wedding took place."

"And your son..." "He is the child of Sirius Black. I was pregnant when they forced the wedding on me." The man smiled for the first time and hugged Nodoka, ignoring the gasps from his security detail.

"Welcome home little sister. May the error of out parents be washed away by the passage of time." He said, smiling down at Nodoka, who was grinning back up at him. He then turned to the others at his gate. "Please, let me offer my thanks for the return of my sister."

"Hideki, I would love to celebrate with you. Unfortunately, Ranma and I must travel to England immediately. One of Sirius' relatives is attempting to claim his estate."

"Ah... then this Sirius Black was not the penniless gaijin our father thought then. If it was so urgent Nodoka, why did you come here? You could have notified me through my lawyers in Tokyo. I would have understood."

"Hideki, I need my masters' certificate." Nodoka sighed, shifting nervously. "I know that father destroyed my copy of it when I left for school, but the original was cast in sword steel as out tradition required. Do you know where it is?"

"You intend to teach your son the way?" Her brother glanced at his nephew, nodding approval. He glanced back at his sister and frowned when he saw her nervousness. "There is more?" "I have been offered a position at the school Sirius attended in England. They wish me to teach students the sword, not the family secrets of course, but the basics techniques. I need your permission as the head of the clan to teach them more."

"Are you sure Nodoka? Why would English school children need to know the more advanced techniques of the way?"

"It is easiest to learn the advanced skills when you have someone to spar against who is near your level. You know this truth as well as I do. Ranma will need sparring partners."

"Very well, I will permit you to train nine others. This is the most I can permit outside of the family." He looked at her significantly, and she smiled in gratitude. "I will have another copy of your certificate produced and sent to you."

"Thank you Hideki, I will contact you when I know where I will be staying."

"Thanks are unnecessary Nodoka, not between us. I will let you go now, so that you may thwart the evil gaijin. Know that I love you baby sister. Remember that you need never be alone again." Nodoka hugged her older brother, wiping tears from her eyes. Ranma shook his uncle's hand, and the group of five walked away from the gate. Once they were out of sight from the gate, Dumbledore pulled the shoe out of his pocket and produced another portkey. With the same jerking feeling, Ranma found himself traveling again.


	5. Chapter 4: Here's Harry Part 1

What's mine is mine, What's theirs isn't. Deal with it.

  
Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion

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Chapter Four: Here's Harry (Part 1)

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Ranma smirked as the witches and wizards stumbled when they came to a stop in the Okayama apartment he and his mother had left just that afternoon. He almost laughed at the shocked expressions on their faces when they saw all of the weapon used in the decorations, but turned his attention to Professor Dumbledore when he cleared his throat.

"Well, fascinating as your collection of antique arms is, we really must be going if we wish to file your counterclaim to your husbands estate before the ministry closes today."

"Ranma and I can pack a few things now and come back for the rest afterward if we need to hurry." Nodoka said, her voice betraying her reluctance to leave anything behind.

"Oh, I think we can accomplish the move quite easily if Miss Ninomiya can acquire several cargo portkeys from her ministry offices." Hinako nodded and apparated away. "In the meantime, if you will each show myself and Nymphadora where your belongings are, we shall expedite the process of repacking your belongings." Tonks followed Nodoka to her room, while Dumbledore followed Ranma.

"My stuff is in here," Ranma said leading the way to what was to have been his room. When he noticed that some of his girl stuff was out he blushed and tried to hide it quickly, but not quickly enough.

"Interesting belongings for a young man," Dumbledore said, his eyes dancing merrily. "Do you wish me to pack everything in this room Ranma?"

"Um... I'll need something to wear..."

Dumbledore waited for Ranma to pack several changes of clothing, including a couple changes of feminine clothing, then smiled. "Is that everything?"

At Ranma's blushing nod, Dumbledore waved his hand and a wooden crate appeared. With another wave of his had everything in the room began floating about the room, shrinking, and then taking its place in the small box. Within a minute, even the furniture was inside the crate and it had sealed itself. Dumbledore wave his hand again and the crate started floating from the room.

"Um... Am I going to be learning stuff like that?" Ranma blurted as he followed the aged wizard from the room, carrying his duffel bag.

"Similar things, yes," Dumbledore replied with a mysterious smile. "Of course, I have been doing this for many years."

"But I could learn to do the same things, right?"

"Depending on the extent of your abilities, yes. But isn't that always the way it is? We are only limited by our own abilities."

"And what we're willing to put into training," Ranma agreed, realizing that this old man was very wise. Nodoka and Tonks returned a short while later with another crate. In the living room, there were already several crates waiting and the room was bare. Miss Hinako came back soon after carrying a large tarp and a strange looking rope with a box at one end.

Once the two crates from their rooms had joined the others, the entire pile was lifted into the air and the tarp and rope were passed under it and then wrapped around everything with the rope passing around the knobs on the box attached to one end. The package was quickly wrapped up and tied together. Miss Hinako then handed a small disk to Professor Dumbledore, who muttered the word portus and then handed it back to her. The disc was placed in the box, and an instant later the entire package disappeared.

"Well, now that your belongings are on their way to Hogwarts, shall we be going?" Dumbledore said with a smile at Ranma and his mother. With a wave of his hand their remaining luggage was small enough to fit in their pockets. "This journey will take some time, so we must hurry." He activated his portkey again and they traveled to the Japanese ministry of magic. Nodoka was given a special medallion that would allow her to use the floo network safely, and their journey began.

After the first trip through the floo, Ranma looked around and recognized the Korean architecture of the building. Once the other members of their party had arrived, they went to another public floo point and were on their way again. Ranma recognized the architecture of the first four or five places, but then they started arriving in places he didn't recognize. After ten trips to places Ranma didn't recognize, the others traveling with them didn't come with them, and Dumbledore ushered them into an office and up to a desk where an Asian man in a European suit was sitting.

"Professor Dumbledore, you honor me with your presence."

"Not at all Hiro-san. This is Nodoka Black, the widow of Sirius Black, and their son, Ranma" Dumbledore told the man when he looked at them curiously. "This is Mr. Katsuhiro Chang, the lawyer Sirius selected to draw up and defend his will. He will ask you any necessary questions to put your claim before the courts.I will be taking care of some of the other things that are necessary for your position at Hogwarts. I will return shortly. " The old man left the room as the lawyer wave Ranma and Nodoka to chairs.

"I'm pleased to finally meet you Mrs. Black. I am surprised by the existence of a child, but I think that is because of the misunderstanding between yourself and Mr. Black. Now, according to the records Mr. Black left with me there was never a divorce proceeding, so you and your son are his legal heirs according to his latest will. There are certain things that I will need you to sign, but most of them can wait until later. The only documents which need your signature now are this petition for a hearing before the Wizengamot, and this petition for transfer of guardianship of a minor child." The lawyer slid two sheets of parchment across the table.

"Guardianship? For Ranma?"

"No, no. Ranma is an adult by wizarding law. This is to transfer the guardianship of your husband's godchild, Harry Potter, to you. Normally this would be just a formality, but because of Mr. Potter's notoriety this will also have to go before the Wizengamot."

"Excuse me, but what is this Wizengamot?" Ranma asked noticing that his mom had a confused expression on her face. "And what is this kid so famous for?"

"What is the... What is he..." Mr. Chang stared at Ranma for several seconds. "Forgive me, I forget that not everyone is aware of recent events here in England or the odd legal system they have here. The Wizengamot is the senior legal body of the English Ministry of Magic and they have the final say in all legal matters involving the wizarding world."

"All right, that makes sense... And this Potter guy?"

"Harry Potter defeated Voldemort at the age of 15 months." Nodoka gasped and stared at Mr. Chang in shock. "No one knows how he accomplished it, but he did. Unfortunately, Voldemort has returned, and we stand on the brink of war again."

"Hmm... I guess I can see why he would be famous if he stopped a war before he could talk." Ranma's voice carried a note of respect now. Nodoka signed the two forms with the provided quill pen, and the lawyer sanded the ink and put the two forms in a folder. At the same time there was a knock at the door and Dumbledore came in.

"If you have completed your business, we need to hurry to the ministry offices before closing to register Ranma in Hogwarts and get him a learning license so that he may learn apparration."

"I will inform you when we have our hearing. In the meantime, I recommend you get to know your ward." Nodoka nodded and thanked Mr. Chang, then followed Professor Dumbledore to the fireplace. They traveled to the ministry offices and came to the registration desk.

"Please state your name and business," the woman behind the desk said in a bored tone, not looking up.

"Albus Dumbledore, Nodoka Black, and Ranma Black for various and sundry items of official business." The woman glanced up at Dumbledore's name, but when she caught sight of Ranma, she grinned shyly and stared at him for several seconds before Nodoka cleared her throat. Ranma blushed a little at the attention, then took the badge Dumbledore handed to him after having his wand examined.

The old wizard led them from the reception room and down a hall to an office that read "Office of Records."

"Hello, may I help you?" A young woman asked from behind the counter, looking up from her book.

"We are here to register this young man in Hogwarts, and his mother as the new Physical Defense instructor." The woman nodded and brought out a large book and smiled at Ranma. "Date of Birth?"

"Um... November 16, 1987." The woman flipped through the book rapidly until she came to the right year, then slowly paged through until she came to the November entries. She looked through several before she glanced up at him in confusion.

"Are you sure of that date?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um, your full name?"

"Ranma Sirius Theodoric Black." The woman gasped and stared at him for a moment, then looked at the book again, checking the entry that she had.

"Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Black." She nodded and closed the book, then drew another book down from the shelf next to the one she'd just used. "Now, your name Ma'am?" She drew a quill out of a drawer and dipped it in a nearby inkwell.

"Nodoka Black"

"Date of Birth?"

"May 19, 1964." The woman glanced at her in surprise, then wrote that information down.

"May I see your qualifications to teach?"

"They are being sent from Japan, and should arrive within the next few days." Nodoka replied uncomfortably.

"Understandable," the woman said, smiling reassuringly. " Please bring them as soon as they arrive so we may complete your registration." Nodoka nodded and they left room. Dumbledore led them down the hall to another door that read "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Division of Magical Licensing."

"Albus? What are you doing here?" a woman a little older than Nodoka asked. She had been talking to a portly gentleman in a purple robes when they came in.

"Ah, Amelia," Dumbledore smiled at the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "I'm here to help young Mr. Black get his license to learn apparration."

"Ah, an accidental apparator... Did you say Black?"

"Yes, but I should remember my manners. Amelia, this is Ranma Black, and his mother Nodoka Black. Ranma, Nodoka, this is Madame Amelia Bones, the head of this department."

"Ms. Black."

"It's Mrs., though my husband died recently."

"Then you are..."

"The widow of Sirius Black? Yes, though I hadn't seen him for more than 17 years."

"A pleasure to meet you and your son ma'am. I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances." Nodoka realized that this woman was sincere in her greeting and returned the understanding smile the woman gave her. The Head cleared her throat a moment later, and shook Professor Dumbledore's hand. "I'll leave you to your business then. Albus, I will see you tomorrow as scheduled." Dumbledore nodded and the Head left. It might have had something to do with the Head's interest in them, or the presence of Dumbledore, but they finished very quickly, and Ranma had his license.

"We will have to take you to get your wand another time I fear, since the wand shop, Ollivander's, is almost certainly closed by now." Dumbledore explained as they left the office. Ranma shrugged and look at him expectantly. Dumbledore smiled and turned to Nodoka. "That is everything we will be able to accomplish here today. Is there anything that either of you would like to do next?"

"Mr. Chang suggested that I get to know my husband's ward. I believe his name is Harry Potter."

"Ah.... Then you are in luck, for today is Harry's birthday. I would be happy to introduce you to him. I must warn you though, he has been deeply effected by your husband's death.

"They were close? I understood that my husband was in prison for twelve of the last fifteen years."

"Harry was looking for someone to care about, and your husband was one of the few he was genuinely attached to. That made Sirius death that much more tragic."

"How?" Ranma asked, confused. "I mean, my father's dead. Not much more tragic than that."

"Young Harry's parents were killed by the man who sent those people, the Death Eaters, after Sirius while he was in Japan. Harry has been without loving care and guidance of any kind for most of his life as a result of the hatred his aunt and uncle have for all things magical."

"Surely they didn't... _beat_ him..." Visions of another child treated like Ranma was by his father thundered through her mind, so loudly that she barely heard Dumbledore's denial.

"No. Thankfully, he was spared that but he has been verbally abused and neglected for most of his life. In truth it is amazing that he is as loving and caring as he is."

Nodoka stared at the man whom she had considered to be kind and wise beyond belief. His description of the conditions her husbands ward was living under though, showed a terrifying lack of compassion and concern. She had considered discussing her custody claim with him, but now felt that she had better judge for herself the conditions of this Harry Potter, and then decide whether to proceed.

"Man, and I though I was the only one whose life sucked that much," Ranma exclaimed, unconsciously giving voice to his mother's thoughts. Dumbledore ignored him, and led the way to the public floo point.

"The Burrow," Dumbledore said, and disappeared again.

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"Harry dear, why don't you go take a nap. You look exhausted." Molly Weasley smiled up at the Boy-who-lived and shooed him out the door. Ron grinned at his friend, smirking when he glared at him.

"She's right you know. You do look very tired." Harry grimaced at Ginny's concerned comment, but nodded in acceptance and followed Ron up to the room they were sharing.

"So, have any good nightmares lately?" Ron said as Harry got ready for his nap. Harry froze, then glared at his friend.

"Oh sure, I get to see Sirius die two or three times a night, not to mention watching Voldemort torture his servants a couple of times a week." Harry's voice was thick with sarcasm, as Harry almost shook with the rage that flowed through him.

"Easy mate, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted you to know I'm here if you want to talk. But even if you don't want to talk to me, you need to talk to someone Harry. I know you feel responsible for everything that's happened lately, just like I know you know you aren't. That's the 'Hero thing' Hermione was telling you about before we went to the Ministry."

"Don't you think I know that?" Harry growled, forcing his anger down. "Listen Ron, I don't want to talk right now and I really am tired. Why don't you go do something to help your mum? I'll try to get some sleep so I'm not so grumpy." Ron nodded and left the room.

"Why can't they just leave me alone?" Harry muttered to himself as he lay down and covered his head with the quilt. Before he knew it, Harry was deeply asleep. A few minutes latter, soft footsteps came up the stairs, the door opened and Ginny slipped into the room. She smiled when she saw that he was asleep, and was about to leave when she heard him call her name. Whirling around, she realized quickly that he was still asleep. She walked over to the side of his bed and tried to listen to what he was saying.

"... Ginny... no..." was all he was saying, but as she watched, he started getting more agitated, struggling against his quilt. Coming to a decision, Ginny reached out and took one of Harry's hands.

"Shh... Harry, it's alright..." Harry stopped struggling so suddenly, Ginny thought he'd woken up. She was about to let go of his hand and leave when he tightened his grip and his eyes popped open. She held her breath for several seconds before she realized that he was still in the dream, and decided to stay a little longer, taking the chair from Ron's desk and putting it next to Harry's bed. A few moments later, she lay her head on the edge of his bed and fell asleep.

That was how Ron found her half an hour later. He hadn't expected to find her in his room, and when he saw that she was holding Harry's hand, he sputtered in shock.

"What are you doing?" Ginny started awake, blinking in surprise, then motioned for him to be quiet, and glanced down to make sure Harry hadn't woken up. Then she glared at her brother.

"Mum told me to check on Harry, and when I got here he was starting to have a nightmare." She whispered, massaging Harry's hand absently.

"So why are you holding his hand? Couldn't you wake him up?"

"Ron, he needs as much sleep as he can get, and I'm holding his hand because it seems to calm him down. That's all." Ginny grinned at the surprised look on Ron's face. "What? You thought I was trying to molest Harry?"

Ron turned bright red and left the room as quickly as he could while Ginny giggled softly, smiling when she noticed the soft smile on Harry's sleeping face. "Sleep well Harry, you deserve it."

Ginny sat there for hours, thinking about what had happened and daydreaming.

Harry slowly woke up, wondering why he felt so calm and rested. As he thought about it, he realized that his left hand felt warmer than his right, and glancing to his left was captured by a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

"Harry, are you awake?" Ginny asked softly. When he nodded and blushed, she grinned and looked down at their joined hands. "Much as I like holding your hand, Mum wanted us to come down stairs once you'd finished your nap."

"You mean your Mum knows you're here? Who else knows?"

"Probably everyone except the twins and Daddy since Ron came up here after they all went back to work."

"_Ron knows?! _That's it, I'm a dead man." Harry sank into his bed in defeat while Ginny giggled. Even the glare he sent her way couldn't get her to stop.

"Harry, you're almost as bad a Ron. It's not like we were in a compromising position or anything... unless you want to be in a compromising position. I can arrange that." the suggestive smirk on Ginny's face had him stuttering and trying to figure out what it was he _did _want. Ginny grinned at his indecision, then stood up and released his hand. "Maybe later. Mum wants us to help Ron degnome the garden before Hermione and her parents get here."

"Why are they coming?"

Ginny sighed and shook her head before she spoke again. "I don't know... maybe because it's your birthday?" Harry stared at her for a second and then smiled naturally for the first time since his godfather died. "What?"

"So who's idea was it to through me a party?" Harry asked softly, looking directly in her eyes. Ginny blushed hotly, and then returned his smile shyly. Harry grinned and then pulled her in for a short kiss. "Okay ... now was the party supposed to be a surprise?"

"Um... not... not really," Ginny finally said after gathering her senses. She grabbed his arm and pulled. "Come on Harry, they'll be here any minute."

Harry got out of bed and followed her down the stairs, noticing the way her hips swayed as she walked. 'Stop staring at Ginny's butt you idiot," Harry thought to himself. 'Do you _want_ the Weasley Brothers to kill you?' To get himself away from temptation, Harry sped up until he was next to Ginny, who smiled at him encouragingly and led him outside. Molly was so busy with preparations, she didn't even notice them as they walked through the kitchen.

"Oi Harry, feeling better?" Ron asked as he flung a gnome off into the distance. "Less grumpy?"

"Yeah, sorry about earlier Ron, too many nightmares recently." Ron nodded and the three teenagers set to work grabbing and throwing garden gnomes out of the yard. The work developed into a contest to see who could throw a gnome the highest or the furthest or with the funniest wind-up. Ginny was winning easily when the twins appeared with a sharp crack and started pelting them with conjured water balloons. Ginny ran squealing for the house while Ron and Harry tried to catch water balloons and throw them back. The twins were laughing at their soaked victims when a large stream of water crashed over them, and they turned to see a grinning Ginny setting down an empty bucket and picking up the full one beside her. Fred and George conjured full buckets of their own, and started menacingly toward their sister, who ran around the corner of the house.

They chased her around three sides of the house before she tripped over the kitchen step, spilling her bucket. Then the twins threw their water, not noticing someone coming out the kitchen door.

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Molly smiled in greeting and wiped the flour off of her hands when Professor Dumbledore came out of the kitchen fireplace. She was about to speak, when the fire flared again and a tall, Asian boy came out of it. A few moment later, a woman who was obviously the boy's mother stepped out of the fire.

"Good afternoon Molly, I hope I find you well." Dumbledore greeted his hostess, then turned to the strangers. "These are Ranma Black, and his mother Nodoka. They just arrived from Japan earlier today. Ranma, Nodoka, this is Molly Weasley, our hostess, and mother to one of Harry's best friends."

"A pleasure," Nodoka said with a small smile for the womans shocked expression.

"Albus did you say... is he..."

"Yes, Ranma is Sirius' son, and Nodoka is his widow. Due to a misunderstanding, neither of them knew Sirius was alive until recently."

"How sad." Molly sighed and then remembered her manners. "Welcome to my home. If you would like to freshen up, the bath is on the first floor at the end of the hall."

"Thank you," Nodoka said returning the woman's smile with one of her own. "Do you need any help with whatever you are doing?"

"I'm getting ready for Harry's birthday party, but I couldn't ask you for help, you're a guest." They heard the laughing and shouting erupt outside, and watched as a girl who was obviously Molly's daughter ran into the room, filled two buckets with water and ran back out.

"I'm sorry, Ginny isn't normally so rude," Molly apologized ruefully. Nodoka chuckled softly and reassured her as they heard a splash outside followed by a feminine squeal and running feet.

"It is not a problem, Molly-san. She was obviously in a hurry." Nodoka and Molly shared identical expressions of motherly exasperation, then Nodoka turned to her son. "Ranma, it sounds like the young lady could use some help outside. Why don't you go see what is going on, while I help Molly with her preparations for the party. No Molly, I insist. It's the least I can do." Molly finally gave up, and Professor Dumbledore offered to help with the decorations. Ranma shrugged and walked toward the door to find out what was going on. As he stepped out of the door, he caught a glimpse of the girl he saw before lying on the ground, her eyes wide, just before he got hit with two buckets of cold water.


	6. Chapter 5: When Harry met Nodoka

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's their's isn't. I'm broke anyway.

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion

by

Lord Dragonbane

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Chapter Five: When Harry Met Nodoka

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"Damn it!" Ranma growled looking down at her soaked, female, form, then swore loudly in Japanese. She turned to glare at the red headed twins who were the cause of her current state. They just gawked at her, shocked by her sudden appearance, at least until the girl stood up and walked over to her.

"How . . . How did you change from a boy to a girl so fast?" She demanded, then turned to glare at the twins. "Did you guys put something in that water?"

The older Weasleys shook their heads violently, and raised their hands to ward off their sister. "We've never created anything that would do that. Though it would be a wicked prank to pull on someone." Fred and George looked at Ranma speculatively.

"Not if it was permanent," Ranma muttered, then sighed. Before she could explain, she heard her mother's voice.

"Are you all right, Ranma?" Nodoka came to the door. Ranma sighed again and shook her head.

"I'm fine mom, they were having a water fight." Ranma grumbled. Her mother sighed, shaking her head philosophically. "They want to know how I changed though."

"It's all right to tell them about the curse dear, magic is part of their everyday life." Nodoka smiled at her daughter and went back to helping Molly.

"Whoa, who's the hot chick," Another red head asked as he came around the corner, followed by a skinny kid with black hair.

'She's even hotter than Cho.' Harry thought, then shook his head to wipe the thought from his mind. 'I wonder who she is.'

Ranma glanced at the boy who followed the fourth red head around the corner. 'Hmm . . . He looks like he got even less food than me growing up. I wonder why.' "Look, first of all I am not a 'chick', regardless of what I look like, got it buddy?" Ron nodded nervously, while Harry looked at the unfamiliar redhead questioningly. Ranma noticed his expression, as well as the expressions of interest on the redheads faces as well.

"You're not a girl either," Ginny said glaring at her brothers in exasperation. "You were a guy before the water hit you, and you act like a boy, but how did it happen? Was it something the twins did? Who are you anyway?" She glared at her older brothers, then turned back to the new girl.

"My name is Ranma."

"I'm Ginny, and these are my brothers, Fred, George and Ron, and Ron's best friend Harry."

"Okay, to answer your question, I changed into a girl because of a curse I picked up in China during a training trip. Cold water makes me a girl, hot changes me back into a guy."

"And where can we find this place where you got cursed?" Fred asked eagerly. Ranma glared at him suspiciously and shook her head.

"Listen, you _don't _want to go there. Jusenkyo is a cursed training ground filled with thousands of springs. Each spring had something drown in it, and if anything falls into a spring, it takes on the form of whatever drowned there."

"So you fell into the spring of drowned hottie?" George asked eagerly.

"No, the spring of drowned girl. From everything I've found out in the last two years, this is what I would have looked like if had been born a girl." Ranma shrugged, then shivered because of the breeze blowing over her wet clothes. Ginny noticed the shiver and then glared at her brothers.

"Maybe we should go in and change. Hermione should be getting here soon. Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm getting cold." Ron bolted into the house at the mention of Hermione, ignoring his mother and their other guests. The others, walking in more slowly, greeted Dumbledore and were introduced to Ranma's mother.

"Um, Professor, could I have my stuff? I need to change."

"Certainly Ranma." Professor Dumbledore enlarged Ranma's duffle bag, and she gratefully followed Ginny upstairs to the bathroom. Locking the door, she looked through the clothes in the bag, and tried to decide whether it was worthwhile to change back. Deciding it was, she ran the water in the sink until it heated up, then filled her bathing pail and dumped it over her head. She gasped when she saw that nothing had happened, then noticed the small pink package she had learned to have readily available at certain times of the month. Checking the personal calendar her mother wanted her to keep, Ranma swore viciously when she confirmed her fears.

"What's wrong Ranma?" Ginny asked curiously, knocking on the door. "Did you forget something?"

"No, it's just . . . Hold on." Ranma looked at herself in the mirror for several seconds, growling about bad luck, then opened the door and let Ginny into the bathroom.

"I though you were going to change. Why are you still a girl?"

"I tried, but it didn't work. I'm physically, if not mentally, female in this form okay?" Ginny nodded, not sure where he was going with it. "Well, when I'm in this form, I have all of the problems anyone who is born female has, including the possibility of getting pregnant during certain _times_. Unfortunately, if I change right at the begging of one of those . . . times, I'm stuck until I've gone through the entire cycle."

"Oh, so you're stuck until you're . . . time . . . , is over?" Ginny noticed Ranma blushing, then grinned at her. "Well, I would suggest you avoid Ron and the twins as much as you can until you are able to change back. I don't think they believe you are really a guy. How long are you usually stuck like this?"

"About 27 days," Ranma sighed in annoyance. "The hormones do it . . . After my first period, mom thought birth control pills would be a good idea, in case one of my enemies raped me while I was stuck. It ended up being the worst idea she'd had since she let my dad take me on that training trip I mentioned. I spent three months stuck as a girl before we figured out that the pills were causing it."

"Birth control pills? Wait a second, why would your enemies have _raped _you? What kind of people were they?! Didn't they know you were a guy?"

"They didn't care . . . You see, it wasn't very long ago that I had to beat guys up every day in the showers at school for splashing me, just so they could _look_ at my female side." Ranma followed as Ginny led her into what was obviously her bedroom. "I hate to even think about what they would have done if I'd tried to shower there when I was stuck as a girl."

"Why, was it an all boys school?" Ginny stared when Ranma shook her head negatively. "Why not use the girls' showers when you were stuck? Wouldn't that have worked?"

"The girls at my school had almost as many problems with the guys trying to peep on them as I did." Ranma said, shrugging as she got dressed in her female clothes, making sure to use her female underwear. "Besides, they knew I was a guy, so if I'd tried that, they would have killed me before I could explain." Ginny led the way back downstairs. When Nodoka looked at her questioningly, Ranma sighed and then laughed softly.

"What's so funny Ranma? And why are you dressed like that?"

"Is there something wrong with my outfit?" She asked looking down at herself and then giggling at her mother's slightly annoyed expression. "That time of the month mom." Nodoka sighed when she recognized Ranma's meaning, then turned to their hostess, who was glancing questioningly between Ranma and Nodoka.

"Ranma has a curse that makes him turn into a girl, Mum," Ginny explained, getting a startled glance from Nodoka that she was the person explaining. "The only problem is that if he changes at the beginning of a fertile period, he's stuck as a girl until it's over. The twins caught him on the exact wrong day."

"You poor . . . child." Molly hesitated and then decided on the more generic term. "Isn't there a countercurse?"

"None that we know of." Nodoka said with a sympathetic glance at Ranma.

"Maybe Albus knows of one." Molly suggested looking hopefully at Professor Dumbledore who was looking at Ranma with a bright twinkle in his eye.

"Perhaps. You say this is a curse, Ranma? How was it placed upon you? Was it cast upon you, did you get it from touching an object, or was it something else?"

"Um . . . I fell in this spring in China. It was in a place called Jusenkyo" Ranma explained with a shrug.

"Ah . . . and since you were male when we arrived, I assume there is something that allows you to return to what I assume is your true form."

"Yeah, hot water switches me back, but only if I was in the middle or end of one of these . . . 'fertile?' periods. Any time except the first day."

"Ah . . . and the name of this springs?"

"Niiyannichuan . . . The guide said it meant Spring of Drowned Girl. Um, _is _there a counter curse that you know of?"

"I'm afraid not. You see, most of what are called 'Cursed Springs,' are actually springs which contain minerals that for want of a better word, 'hold' magic in the water. From what you've described, this place was likely the location of a wizards duel that got out of hand. Most curses from springs dissipate in a year.

"But, I've had this curse for longer than that already." Dumbledore looked to Nodoka, who nodded in confirmation.

"Oh dear, then there can only be one explanation. What most likely happened is that you swallowed a small amount of the water from that spring, Ranma. The minerals I was speaking of tend to fix themselves in the body if swallowed, which means that the curse is almost certainly permanent. The mineral cannot be removed from your body after so much time."

"What about the spring of drowned man? Wouldn't that help? I've been looking for it for years."

"Then you are lucky you did not find it. Ingesting water from another spring would only combine the curses, and the magic that is now part of you would counteract an external application very quickly." Ranma shuddered at the idea of combining the female and male curses. At the same time she offered up a prayer of thanks that Happosai had used up the cask of water Mr. Tendo had saved for the wedding, though she wondered why the water hadn't done anything to the ancient master.

"Before you lose hope however, I will have Madame Pomfrey, the matron at Hogwarts, examine you. If you like though, I will see if I can do something about the second curse you seem to be under."

"Second curse?"

"How could you not know that you were under the Chaosium Malignae?"

"Malignant Chaos?" Ginny asked as she sat next to Ranma, who had collapsed into one of the chairs at the table, completely confused.

"The Chaosium Malignae is often referred to as the ancient Chinese curse. It makes you a focal point for chaotic energies and then magnifies the effects of those energies." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at the dawning comprehension in Ranma's eyes.

"May you live interesting times... no wonder I had such a messed up life." Ranma muttered to herself.

"Indeed." Dumbledore frowned as he used a spell to examine the curse. What he saw extinguished some of the twinkle in his eyes. "Unfortunately, I can not reverse the effects that have already been set in motion. It has been many years since I have seen this curse so far advanced. You are fortunate to be alive at this stage of the curse's development."

"So, it was because of this spell that I'm stuck like this, and you can't make anything that's already going to happen not happen, but once it's gone nothing new will start?" Dumbledore nodded solemnly and Ranma grinned. Okay... I can deal with it for the now. How do I get rid of the curse?"

Dumbledore smiled and started muttering in a language that sounded like, but wasn't quite, Chinese. As the ancient wizard continued, Ranma felt a weight lift slowly from his shoulders. Ron, Harry, and the twins came down the stairs at the tail end of the cure, and looked at the still female Ranma.

"If you're actually a guy, why are you still a girl? Why didn't you change back yet?" One of the twins, she thought it was George, asked, looking her over.

"You splashed him at the worst possible moment," Ginny replied, glaring at her brothers. "Now he's stuck like this for the next four weeks."

"Um... Sorry about that Ranma." Both twins shuffled uncomfortably under their mother's glare. Ranma looked at them and then shrugged.

"You had no way of knowing." Ranma admitted. Then she grinned. "Don't think this gets you out of any revenge for splashing me though. I'll get you when you least expect it." The twins stared at her for several seconds before they jumped at the sound of a car coming up their driveway.

"Did Dad get a new car?" Ron asked as he followed everyone out into the yard. He was answered very quickly when a bushy haired whirlwind jumped out of the car and slammed into Harry.

"Um... Hi Hermione," Harry said uncomfortably, his eyes pleading for Ron to rescue him. Seeing that he wasn't going to get any help from his friend, Harry decided to get out of this situation himself. "Need... Air... Can't... Breathe..." Hermione let him go quickly, then hit him when she saw his grin.

"That's for yelling at me when all I wanted to do was help."

"Sorry Hermione, it's... It's still hard."

"I understand. Just let me help, okay? It's hard for me to see you suffer like that." Hermione smiled when Harry nodded, then noticed Ranma and her mother and whispered. "Who are they?"

"Um... I don't really know. Ginny says the girl is actually a boy, but her name is Ranma. She and her mom are from Japan."

"Really?" Hermione and Harry walked over to the others who were introducing themselves. They got there just as the Grangers finished."

"I am Nodoka Black and this is my daughter Ranma, at least for now anyway."

"What do you... did you say Black?" Hermione said as her mind caught up with what Nodoka was saying. "Any... any connection to _Sirius_ Black?"

"I was his wife, and Ranma was his daughter, again, for now."

Harry stared at the calm, older woman for several moments with several emotions chasing across his face, mostly horror and sorrow. Finally, it was too much for him and he ran away.

"Harry?" Hermione said, confused. Ginny was about to go after him, when Nodoka restrained her.

"I think Harry and I need to talk. He seems to blame himself for my husbands death, or at least that is the impression I received from your mother." Ginny looked at her mother, who nodded, and she allowed Nodoka to follow Harry while the others went into the house.

Nodoka followed Harry's trail which wasn't too difficult since it had rained recently, and the ground was still soft. The trail led into a nearby forest, and the path was even easier to follow, and shortly she had found her husband's ward, standing next to the stream she had heard in the distance earlier. She watched as he threw rocks into the water for a while, then sat down on a nearby rock, staring across the water. Nodoka watched him for several minutes before she walked to the edge of the water and looked out over the river, watching Harry out of the corner of her eye.

"Did you cast the spell that killed my husband?" She asked, surprising Harry who hadn't even noticed her. He gaped at her for several seconds before she turned to face him directly. "Did you?"

"N... No, but he wouldn't..."

"I did not ask why he was there, child. I asked if you had cast the spell that killed him. You did not. Therefore, you could not be responsible for Sirius death. Knowing my husband as he was before we were separated, nothing you could have done would have prevented him from being there to protect you."

"But if I had learned to block Voldemort out, he wouldn't have needed to be there."

"Harry, why did you go to the Ministry offices that night."

"Because Voldemort tricked me."

"No Harry, you know that now. At the time, why did you go?"

"I thought Sirius had been captured and was being tortured." Harry muttered. "But..."

"You went to the Ministry because, as far as you knew at the time, someone you cared for was in danger so terrible that even one second of delay could mean his death. Does this sound like something bad, or wrong?"

"When you put it like that, no, but..."

"Harry, why did you leave after I introduced myself?"

"I... I though you wouldn't want me to be there."

"And why did you think this?"

"Because I'm responsible for your husband's death."

"Even if you were, which you are not, but if you were, that does not mean that I would want you to isolate yourself. I know what it is to be alone, more alone than you could possibly imagine, I would never wish that on another."

"But..."

"But this does not help you. Harry, what you need to understand is that no one except you blames you for Sirius' death. I do not. Ranma does not. No one does. They all blame the... female who cast the spell. She is the one who sent him through that veil, so she bears responsibility for his death. No one else."

Harry stared at Nodoka in surprise, then looked down, blushing when she smiled at him. She held out her hand to him and smiled even more brightly when he took it.

"Now, it was a mistake for you to go there without getting help from any adults, but from what Professor Dumbledore told me of the circumstances, that would have delayed you unreasonably based on your knowledge at the time. The only thing that is important now though, is that you know that no one blames you for what happened to Sirius. Not me, not Ranma, no one. Now, you need to stop blaming yourself, which is much more difficult. Instead of thinking about what you could have done differently then. It is the past, nothing can change it. Think instead of how you will stop it from happening again."

Harry thought about what this woman, the wife of his godfather, had said. It made a lot of sense, though it was hard to admit that. Then he smiled shyly at her and followed her through the forest, still holding her hand.

"Thank you." He said finally, as they came withing sight of the Burrow.

"For what?"

"For talking to me, and making me think instead of just react. And for forgiving me."

"There was nothing to forgive, but you are welcome. Now, I believe that this is your sixteenth birthday, correct?" At Harry's nod, she became very businesslike. "Well then, enough of this depressing attitude. Molly-san has spent most of today preparing a party for you... it would be rude to ignore her preparations."

"But..."

"I would like to know, how do you like where you are living currently. Do the Weasley's treat you well?"

"The Weasleys?" Harry looked at her in confusion for a moment then realized what she meant. "You think that I stay with the Weasleys. I don't normally live here during the holidays ma'am. I live with my aunt and uncle in Surrey."

"Really? I was told that my husband was your guardian from his release until his death." Nodoka blinked when he stared at her. "What is it?"

"Sirius... Sirius wasn't released from prison ma'am, he broke out. He's been on the run from the aurors for as long as I've known him."

"But... then how can his will be probated? Wouldn't all of his possessions have been confiscated?" Nodoka noticed the confused look he was giving her and laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry. You wouldn't know that, would you? What are your aunt and uncle like?"

"Well the Dursleys... they hate anything to do with magic. They think of me as an ungrateful burden on their household and a freak."

"And are you ungrateful or unusually difficult for them to care for?"

"I... I don't know. I am grateful that they took gave me a house to live in and food, and I did everything I could to help out around the house."

"But?"

"They made me do all of the chores while their son sat around watching television, always gave me leftovers to eat, and until I was eleven they made me sleep in the cupboard under the front stairs. Even after that, they made me sleep in Dudley's 'second bedroom' with all of his junk." He scowled, thinking about everything he'd endured from the Dursleys.

As Harry spoke, Nodoka got the feeling that he wasn't saying everything, but what he was saying was enough. There was no way she would allow a child, or even a teenager like Harry, to live in a home where he was so obviously unwanted. Especially when she could provide an alternative. Nodoka smiled at the boy walking beside her and cleared her throat as the Burrow came into sight. "I can assure you, Harry, that I find nothing freakish about you. Which is entirely besides the point. Today is _your_ day. You are supposed to be enjoying yourself."

"But... I can't..."

"My dear child, I knew my husband. He would never have wanted your birthday ruined. Birthdays' were very important to him." Harry looked at her questioningly when she chuckled softly at a memory. "I'm sorry, it's just that every day that involved a party of some kind was important to Sirius." Harry thought about and realized that she was right. Sirius would have hated to have any opportunity for a party ruined. They walked the rest of the way back to the Burrow in a companionable silence. Harry followed Nodoka into the kitchen, then froze at what he saw.


	7. Chapter 6: Here’s Harry Part 2

Disclaimer: Though it should be obvious to anyone who has spent any time with any of these series, I will state here that I do not own the characters, concepts, or worlds involved in this story with the exception of those elements that differ from accepted canon or fanon. If something looks like it may have come from another story, it is either because I read that story and thought the idea was cool, for which I wish to thank the authors of those stories (too many to mention here), or it was copied from this story (it has been around for almost five years) for which I again thank the authors of those stories, it's always flattering to be copied.

A/N: FIVE YEARS!!!!! Well, almost anyway. I would have had to wait two months for it to be exactly five, but at least I got back to this story. For those who are wondering, it took a combination of an enforced break from fan fiction and an argument with my sister about the realities of Harry Potter and Ranma ½ to get me back to this story, but with finishing my bachelors degree in English, moving, and starting Graduate school, I can't really say I didn't have other things on my mind. Enjoy the chapter.

HPWSHPWSHPWSHPWS

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion

By

Eric Thorsen

HPWSHPWSHPWSHPWS

Chapter 6: Here's Harry Part II

HPWSHPWSHPWSHPWS

Black mist surrounded him as far as the eye could see. Even a _lumos maximus_ only penetrated four or five feet into the damp gloom that surrounded him. Of course the only reason he knew that was because he tried it right after he found his wand ten minutes ago. No sounds penetrated the mist, not even the sound of his own steps as he searched for a way back to the battle left behind; or rather been knocked out of. Either way Sirius Black wasn't happy and was starting to get impatient.

Sirius had no idea how long he'd been unconscious from the stunning spell his cousin Bellatrix had hit him with. Probably at least a few hours, since he'd woken up on his own without a trace of the headache that spell normally left behind it. That meant that the battle was probably over and the Order had probably left the Department of Mysteries already. He would have to be careful when he got out of wherever he was right now. It wouldn't do for him to be captured and kissed now. Sirius shivered as the combined coolness, damp, and darkness started to get to him again. With a wave of his wand and a _lumos_ he was in light for a short time. But the endless black mist the light revealed was more unnerving, so after a few minutes Sirius muttered "_Nox_" and was plunged back into darkness. Sirius stumbled around in the darkness for several minutes before he tripped over his own feet and fell on his face. "Enough is enough he muttered and shifted into his animagus form. As he did so, the dark mist swirled around strangely and his ears perked up as he smelt his own scent. It was several hours old, but as he followed his own trail he snorted, realizing he'd been walking in circles. Following the scent trail, Sirius quickly found the place where he had woken up, a larger patch of scent, and a different trail. He followed the older scent toward, he hoped, the Department of Mysteries. As he followed the trail, he caught a whiff of a familiar scent and, momentarily distracted, followed that rather than his old trail.

A short time later, how much Sirius didn't really know, he came to the first source of light he'd seen since he woke up. Running up to it, Sirius was about to jump into the pool of light when the scene he saw stopped him. "That's not the Department of Mysteries."

A male teen, about 17 from what Sirius could tell, was lying in a bed surrounded by machines. From a description Lily had given him, the boy was in a muggle hospital. Nothing very interesting happened for several minutes as Sirius watched. Then a cute Asian nurse came in, looked at some papers on a board, checked the machines that surrounded the boy, made some marks on the paper, and then left again. Sirius was about to go back to his old trail to continue searching for the Department of Mysteries when the boy woke up. Sirius found himself transfixed by a pair of blue eyes that he'd only seen in a mirror before now. His cousin Bellatrix had eyes a similar color, but not the clear blue of his own. Sirius stared at the teen for several moments before he realized that the boy was staring back at him. The boy spoke and it took a few seconds for Sirius to realize that it was in Japanese.

"Man, the tomboy must have really got in a good shot this time. I'm seeing things." One of the devices must have recorded something unusual because the cute nurse from before came in, and stopped in shock to see her patient awake. Walking over to the teen, she checked the readings on the machines, took his pulse. Then with a smile she spoke to her patient.

"Are you feeling alright Saotome-san?"

"I guess. How long've I been out?"

"You were brought in almost six hours ago Saotome-san. Your injuries were severe enough that corrective surgery was immediately required. I can tell you want to know more, but before we get to far though I have some questions I'm supposed to ask you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"What is your name?"

"Ranma Saotome."

"Your Age?"

"Seventeen."

"Your Mother's maiden name."

"Um… I'm not really sure. Her married name is Nodoka Saotome, but I've never really heard her maiden name before."

"That's fine. Now are you seeing any spots, or bright lights that you can't see a source for? Anything strange?"

"Um… except for a really big dog right behind you… nope nothing." Looking behind herself, just to check, and not seeing Sirius standing behind her, panting in amusement, the nurse grew concerned.

"You can see a dog standing behind me?"

"Yup, it's a really big one too, almost the size of a small bear. Black fur, blue eyes, and… he looks like he'd be laughing at you if he was a person."

"Really?" The nurse went a little pale. "Do you feel okay? Any headaches? Nausea?"

"Nope I'm feeling fine, a little groggy maybe."

"I think I should contact Dr. Tamiya to make sure that there isn't anything wrong."

"Fine." Sirius watched as the nurse left the room a lot faster than she had before. When he turned back to the teen, he found himself the subject of a questioning stare. "I thought they didn't let dogs into hospitals." Sirius barked a laugh and tilted his head to the side questioningly. "How should I know why she was asking all those questions? Last thing I remember, my nutso tomboy fiancée was wailing on me with her stupid mallet, and then I woke up here. Wherever here is."

"Nerima General Hospital, Saotome-san" a man said as he walked into the room, his coat and ID badge identifying him as a doctor. "Now, Nurse Himura says that you can see a dog standing in that corner?" While he said this, he pulled out a small flash light and check Ranma's pupil response. Could you describe the dog too me?"

"Sure. He's big, about one and a half, two meters long, and really shaggy. He almost looks like a bear, but you can tell he's a dog. His fur is black, he has blue eyes, and he looks like he's laughing his ass off right now. He looks kind of stupid, really." Sirius stopped laughing, and growled at the teen, who laughed in response. "Now he's growling at me for making fun of him."

"Really? We'll that's a little specific to be a hallucination. Have you ever seen this dog before?"

"Nope, first time I've seen him before in my life."

"Well, just to be safe, I think we should take you down to the imaging suite to find out if there is anything going on in your head that shouldn't be. A CT scan should tell us if any of the sutures have come loose."

"Okay, sounds good. If you're sure the dog ain't there, I guess we should try to figure out why I'm seeing it. Does this CT scan thing hurt?" The doctor looked up from the notes he was making on a device in his hand.

"Hurt? No, it should be completely painless. Maybe a little boring, but no, not painful." A couple of minutes later a couple of orderlies came in with a gurney, loaded the teen onto it. The doctor followed the gurney out of the room, glancing back at Sirius without seeing him. Shaking his head, the doctor left the room to follow his patient. Sirius turned away from the pool of light and followed his own scent back to the trail he'd been following before the new scent had distracted him. Minutes later, when Sirius was starting to wonder just how far he'd slid after being knocked unconscious, he found another pool of light. This one was familiar.

The room where the so called 'Veil of Death' was kept didn't look any different than when the battle was going on. There were a few of what Sirius guessed were Unspeakables walking around the room, casting spells and marking the results on parchment. After almost an hour of watching them, Sirius sighed in relief when they started to file out of the room. The last witch had left the room when Sirius jumped into the pool of light and out of the veil. Quickly transforming, he disillusioned himself and silenced his feet. Now he just had to make it out the Ministry of Magic without getting caught. Walking into the vestibule, Sirius luck held out and he followed an unspeakable who walked out of another door just as he closed his door. Sirius snuck out of the Department of Mysteries and had reach the atrium when he heard his name mentioned. Whirling around, afraid he'd been caught he saw that it was a toad-like woman who had spoken. She was walking beside the Minister of Magic and the man looked uncomfortable with the topic under discussion. Wanting to know why the woman had mentioned him, Sirius snuck closer to listen in.

"surely it would be better for us to use the funds for your reelection campaign, Cornelius, than let some foreign whore and her bastard child claim such an important pureblood fortune."

"Certainly Delores," Fudge replied, irritated. "But it sets a bad precedent. We only have Lucius word that this Nodoka Black isn't who she says she is. Her claim could very well be legitimate."

"Legitimate?! The woman is a foreign muggle! Even someone like Sirius Black wouldn't have debased himself with such as her as more than a momentary convenience."

"Be careful, Delores, with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returned, we cannot even appear to espouse his agenda."

"Honestly Cornelius, why you admitted to seeing any such thing is a mystery to me."

"Because He was _here_ Delores, I saw him with my own eyes!"

"Yes, yes of course. But why admit it, the only other witnesses were your bodyguards, Dumbledore, and that Potter brat. You know you could have kept you guards silent."

"Perhap, Delores, perhaps, but that would not have been prudent. With Him returned, we cannot ignore Dumbledore and Potter any longer. We must prepare to fight, or He will surely destroy our society."

"But the Dark Lord does not wish our society's destruction, only to cleanse it of the taint of the muggleborns and half-breeds."

"As you say, Delores, but his methods could very well destroy us any way, especially if he brings our world to the attention of the muggles."

"Muggles?! What could they do? They have no real power!"

"As you say, Delores, as you say. If you feel that the claim of Nodoka Black is invalid then I suggest you present any evidence Lucius has provided at the hearing that will be held tomorrow. Otherwise, this matter is closed."

"Of course, Minister," the toad-like woman agreed, bowing in acquiescence. The woman watched Fudge leave through the floo network, then turned and stormed back toward the elevators. "I must inform Lucius, the minister may have outlived his usefulness to the cause." Sirius gaped as he watched her storm off and then made his way to one of the fireplaces. Grabbing a pinch of floo powder, he threw the magical dust into the fire and said "Number 12 Grimauld Place." With a roar of green flames, Sirius Black escaped the ministry again.

HPWSHPWSHPWSHPWS

Three men in bright red robes that had the appearance of a uniform about them were standing in the Weasley's kitchen holding Arthur, Molly, Hermione and Ron at wand point. Professor Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen, and neither were Ginny and Ranma. When Harry recognized John Dawlish, one of the regular bodyguards for Minister Fudge, he tensed ready to attack if an opportunity presented itself.

"None of that now, Potter," Dawlish growled from where he was holding his wand on Arthur Weasley. "Get over by your friends, and no sudden movements." The auror motioned toward Ron and Hermione with his free hand, his wand never moving off of Arthur.

"Auror… I assume you are aurors based on your cloaks," Nodoka said, moving opposite the stairwell, where she knew Ranma would be coming from. "What do you want? What are your intentions?"

Dawlish glared at her and moved his wand from Arthur to Nodoka. "You would be the one calling herself Nodoka Black?"

"I am Nodoka Black."

"Nodoka Saotome, alias Nodoka Black, you are under arrest for attempted fraud, attempted line theft, and usurpation of a pureblood name."

"Now see here, John, you can't…" Arthur began, falling silent when one of the other aurors took his wand off of Molly and pointed it at Arthur. "On whose authority are you arresting her for these crimes?" Arthur demanded finally, glaring at the auror pointing a wand at him.

"I'm operating under the authority of Delores Jane Umbridge, senior undersecretary for the Minister of Magic."

"Umbridge?" Harry demanded, annoyed that Dawlish was trying to arrest Sirius' wife for claiming to be Sirius' wife. "It figures that that bigoted toad would be out of prison already."

"You should respect you betters, Potter," Dawlish's wand twitched toward the Boy-Who-Lived before coming back to Nodoka.

"Maybe if she were worthy of any respect, instead of just being a useless, torturing bureaucrat, I might…" Harry went quiet as Dawlish's wand pointed at him.

"I'll teach you respect, you little…"

"Kaa-san? What's going on?" Dawlish spun around in surprise at the feminine voice that came from behind him. Ranma and Ginny froze for an instant, and then Ranma became a blur as the other aurors turned their wands toward her. Seconds later, the aurors were on the ground, unconscious, and Ranma had all three of their wands in her hand. She was about to break the wands and through them into the fire, when Arthur Weasley recovered from the sudden violence enough to speak.

"Wait, don't…" Ranma paused and looked at her host, one eyebrow quirked in a question. "It would be better if you gave those to me, Ranma. There will be enough trouble here without destroying their wands."

"Sure, whatever," Ranma handed the wands to Arthur before turning to her mother. What was that all about Kaa-san?"

"They said they were aurors, here to arrest me for several crimes?" Nodoka replied, her confusion obvious. "What were the other crimes the crimes they mentioned?" She looked over at the senior Weasley's who glanced at each other. Then Arthur walked over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder into it.

"Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office" he shouted into the fire. A short time later, Dumbledore's head appeared a surprised expression on his face.

"Is something wrong Arthur? Minerva and Filius have just gone to collect Pomona and Hagrid. We should be joining you shortly for Harry's party."

"Unfortunately, Albus, it appears that the ministry moved more quickly than we expected to claim Sirius' estate. There are three aurors here trying to arrest Mrs. Black for fraud, line theft, and usurpation."

"What can Cornelius be thinking? Line theft and Usurpation have not been used in a Wizengamot trial for over eighty years."

"I don't think this was the minister's doing Albus. He may have approved the action, but Delores Umbridge was the one approved the arrest order."

"Ah yes, Delores… This sounds very like her."

"Excuse me, Professor, but why isn't Umbridge in Azkaban?" Harry asked. "She tortured me for most of the last year."

"Sadly, Harry, Delores has many friends in the ministry. The word of one underage wizard, especially yourself is not sufficient to overcome their support."

"What about an adult wizard?" Hermione asked, then jumped when Dawlish groaned before being sent back into unconsciousness by a punch from Ranma. Ranma glanced around, surprised when she saw that everyone was staring at her.

"What?"

"To answer your question, Miss Granger, charges could be brought by an adult victim. I assume that was not a rhetorical question."

"Lee Jordan was also forced to use a blood quill in detention with Professor Umbridge, sir." Harry replied. "She might have also used it on the twins, though they never mentioned it to me."

"The twins? MY TWINS?!" Molly Weasley was furious. "What is this about a blood quill, Albus?"

"The situation will be dealt with Molly, I assure you. If you could have your sons contact me, I would appreciate it. There are, however, more pressing matters at hand. While I could wish that Mr. Black would have acted less precipitously, but this could work for us. Arthur, have you checked any of the aurors for the Dark Mark?"

"No, but surely…"

"Do so. I will contact Alastor and Nymphadora and have them come to the burrow, and investigate the situation. Mr. Black, if you could please not strike the nice gentlemen anymore?" Dumbledore disappeared.

Ranma blushed from where she was, standing next to one of the men, who she'd just knocked unconscious again, earning her an amused chuckle from her mother. "Err… Sorry?"

"Perfectly alright, dear," Nodoka said reassuringly. "It is always good to keep unknown enemies under control."

"Do we have any rope?" Ranma asked. The Weasley's looked at her in confusion. "You know… to tie them up with? I don't know about you guys, but if I can't keep them knocked out, I really think they should be tied up or something."

"But…" Arthur began.

"_Incarcerous,_" Molly said, binding Dawlish in thick ropes. At Arthur's shocked look, she glared back. "They came here on the orders of the woman who may have tortured two of our sons, and tortured at least two of their friends! I for one am not taking any chances that they might be Death Eaters, or even just supporters of an evil woman." With that, she cast the binding spell on the other two aurors. Arthur lifted the three men's sleeves to check for the Dark Mark, not finding it. As he moved to remove the bindings from the men, his wife's glare stopped him.

"Hello the house! Aurors on official business! May we approach to be identified?" Everyone in the house recognized Tonks' voice. To be safe though, Arthur called out in return.

"Nymphadora, is Kingsley with you?"

"How many times… Ahem, no, I am with Master Auror Moody." Tonks' irritation at Arthur's use of her name was obvious.

"Come ahead, but slowly, with you wand and identification visible." The woman Ranma had seen during the battle at the Tendo Dojo appeared at the door to the kitchen with a badge held in front of her and her wand visible at her side. The man behind her looked to Ranma like he'd been mauled by a wild animal sometime in his life. After Arthur verified their identities, the two aurors examined the bound men on the kitchen floor.

"Good idea to bind them, Arthur, never can be too cautious."

"After they barged into our home, waving wands around, and making wild accusations, I certainly was not going to leave them free to run amok in my home," Molly growled, nudging one of the unconscious men with her foot. "Ranma-dear, did you hurt your hands on their hard heads?" Ranma was unconsciously rubbing his left hand.

"Nah, just thinkin'. Who's this Umbridge person they were talking about? And why'd she send these guys to arrest my mom?" Ranma scowled at the idea of a threat to his mother.

"Um excuse me but, last I checked, Ranma was a boy," Tonks looked from Ranma to Molly again.

"Oh, yeah, this is my cursed form."

"Cursed form? Is this some kind of gender switching curse?" Moody continued to examine the bound Aurors, but his magical eye swiveled to focus on Ranma, his wand hand twitching slightly.

"Sorta." Ranma shrugged. "There's this place called Jusenkyo in China that has these cursed springs all over the place. They turn people into whatever drowned there, but you can change back with hot water normally. I turn into a girl."

"Oh… alright then." Tonks blinked at Ranma's matter of fact explanation, shook her head and turned back to Moody. "Any signs of the Imperius or compulsion charms?"

"No, they seem to be acting of their own will, but since the toad sent them we can't do any more to them than take 'em back to the ministry for a reprimand for failure to identify themselves and excessive use of force." Tonks sighed, grumbling under her breath. "Need to know what spell was used to put them under though so we can revive them when we get there."

"Wasn't a spell."

"What was that girl?" Ranma gave Moody a glare, then shrugged.

"It wasn't a spell, just my fists."

"You eliminated three fully trained Aurors without casting a single spell?"Moody glanced around the room to see the others in the room nodding. "How?"

"Told you, I hit 'em 'til they were unconscious." Ranma shrugged again. "Not like it was hard, they were slower than the tomboy." Ranma froze for a second and then sighed. "Can I go lay down? I'm still pretty beat."

"Of course, dear," Molly smiled kindly and bustled Ranma out of the room, glaring at the men lying on the floor as she left. Moody and Tonks brought the three men together in a pile, attached a cargo port key around them and wisked away with them.

Nodoka sat at the kitchen table with her hands steepled in front of her face, her thoughts flashing through her mind. Arthur glanced at the woman, wondering what she was thinking and concerned for her state of mind.

"Mrs. Black, Nodoka, is there anything I can do?"

"Hmm… oh I am sorry Weasley-san, I was just making plans. With this woman interfering in my son's inheritance we must move quickly. We will have to move our plans up, and arrive at Gringott's when they open rather than waiting for Professor Dumbledore. We must not allow anything to interfere with Ranma receiving his birthright."

"Very well, I will accompany you and your son to the bank tomorrow on my way to work."

"Thank you, Weasley-san." Nodoka rose to her feet and left the room, pondering what the next day would hold.


	8. Chapter 7: Surprise, You're Dead!

Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion | 8

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is unfortunately the property of J. K. Rowling and her licensees, as Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and her licensees. Several elements of this story's plot are a fusion of ideas presented in various other works of fan fiction and published fiction, so if you recognize them, then they are part of the inspiration for this story. If you don't recognize them, then it is possible the story they came from has vanished like so many others, or that it is original, which would be a pleasant surprise for me. Also, some original ideas from this story may have made their way into other's stories, seeing as it has been around for more than 5 years. Thank you for the compliments.

Authors Note: Normally, I would put something like this at the end of a chapter. However, as some reviewers have commented on it, I have to assume that some readers who have not reviewed are just as confused about what I meant when I talked about a woman's menstrual cycle, especially in regards to the duration of said cycle and how it influences Ranma in this story. Earlier I mentioned that Ranma would be stuck as a girl for 27 days as her cycle ran its course if he changed into a girl at what his curse decided was the beginning of that cycle. This by no means meant that she would be bleeding for 27 days, which one reviewer correctly pointed out would kill even the most powerful martial artist in creation. My first pre-readers, also known as my younger sisters, would have caught something like that rather quickly. In this case, this confusion is more a misunderstanding as to what I mean by a cycle, at least from my point of view. In this case, I meant the entire process from first estrogen release through the end of the bleeding period. I hope that cleared up the confusion, now, on with the story.

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Harry Potter and the Wild Stallion

By

Eric Thorsen

With assistance from Count Stacko

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Chapter 7: Surprise, You're Dead!

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Sirius Black paced in front of the fireplace in the kitchen of number 12, Grimauld Place, ignoring the shouting of his mother's portrait in favor of organizing his whirling thoughts. What he had heard in the entry hall of the Ministry of Magic did not bode well for his plan to leave all of his property to his godson, Harry Potter. Even more concerning was the fact that, even though he could have only been gone for one day, two at the most, the ministry and his ex wife were trying to lay claim to his estate. He, Sirius Black, head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black was not dead, so why was everyone acting like he was?

"Kreacher!" Sirius called for his family house elf. When the elf didn't immediately appear, Sirius swore to himself and called for him again. Disagreeable and irritating the elf might be, but he was never disobedient or slow to respond when summoned. When he still did not hear the telltale pop, Sirius stormed from the room then stopped suddenly when the smell of old death and decay washed over him and he saw the rotting corpse of Kreacher resting in the middle of the bare floor. That was when he listened to what his mother's portrait was actually saying.

"Murderer! How could any son be so unfeeling as to order the death of my loyal servant…"

"Mother, what are you ranting about? I did not order anyone to kill the smelly toe-rag! Not that I don't wish I had thought of it first, but I didn't order Kreacher's death." The decaying body of a small being that could have been a house elf was lying on the bare floor in front of his mother's portrait. The only problem was that the body looked like it had been dead for months, not the two days he had been gone. He was sure he would have noticed a dead house elf in his foyer for the last month.

After listening to the panting rant for a few more minutes, Sirius' frustration overcame him, and he said something he had avoided since his escape from Azkaban. "I, Sirius Orion Black, heir of the House of Black, claim all rights and responsibilities as Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black." As soon as he finished speaking, a ghostly wind swept through the house. The body in the foyer vanished, as did the smell. Then with a sharp crack, three house elves appeared in front of him.

"All hail Lord Sirius Orion Black, Black of Black, Baron Black, and Earl of Northhallow*." The three chanted in unison. Sirius blinked in shock, and his mother fell silent. The oldest of the elves then stepped forward. "Lord Black, it is good that you have ascended to your dignities. Our magic informed us that the adopted elf, called Kreacher, had betrayed you into mortal peril. You will be pleased to know that he has received his proper punishment under elven law. As required, his body has been left unburied until your return."

Sirius blinked, trying to catch up with everything that was happening. His mother's portrait clearing its throat brought him back to himself. "Yes, Mother?"

"How long have you been the heir to your father? I thought he had preferenced Regulus in the succession when you left us."

"Regulus has been dead for seventeen years, Mother."

"Dead? How?"

"Killed by the dark lord you wanted me to serve when Regulus had second thoughts about serving the half-blood bastard. But you should know this, mother; I told you when I returned last year."

"Last year? I only awakened just now." Sirius blinked. As far as he knew portraits, more specifically Black Family Portraits could not lie to the head of the family. They might neglect to mention something, or not tell the whole truth, but they could not lie. Turning to the elf elder, his mind blanked when he realized he did not know its name.

At Sirius' blank expression, the elf chuckled. It actually chuckled! "I am called Greezy, my lord, while my assistants for house affairs in the Americas and Asia respectively are Gnome and Fujin.

"Thank you, Greezy. Is what the portrait says true? Did it just awaken?"

Greezy turned to the portrait and raised his hands, which started glowing with a blue light. The other elves soon joined him, and soon there were three elves surrounding the portrait with glowing hands. Sirius stared in shock, amazed at this example of the power of house elves. A short time later, the elves lowered their hands and turned to face him. "My lord, has the portrait personality been acting strangely? Has it acted out of character for your mother's personality?"

"No, at least it wasn't acting any different from the way mother would, as far as I could tell. She has been shouting at my guests, but I thought that was normal behavior for her, since most of the people she yelled at were half-bloods or muggleborn."

"Shouting? At guests of The Ancient and Noble House of Black? I would do no such thing, even to those of such lowly status."

The elves spoke to each other quietly, and then one, Sirius thought it was Fujin, popped away and then reappeared with another, more feminine elf who wore a shawl marked with Norse runes. The female elf began chanting, different colored lights glittering into being around her hands and flashing toward the portrait, which suddenly became immobile. After ten minutes of elven chanting and no movement from the portrait, the female elf lowered her hands and turned back to the four watchers. That was when Sirius recognized her.

"Ivy?" The female elf who had served as Sirius' nanny until he ran away to the Potter's home, smiled at her former charge as Sirius stared at his former nurse. Ivy turned back to the other elves and spoke sharply to them. All three bowed and popped away. "Ivy, how is this possible? I thought my parents killed you when I ran away. Reggie said you weren't around anymore."

"And no more was I until now, my lord. After you fled the service of the dark lord, I was summoned to the conclave of elves to answer for my helping you escape against my master's orders. After hearing my reasons, the matriarch of the Black elves took me as her apprentice, and I have since taken up her role." Sirius blinked at this revelation of house elf culture. "Now, my lord, there has been a great wrong committed by a member of the house, namely the Lady Bellatrix, when she cast a spell on this portrait. The spell placed the portrait in stasis since the day that your mother passed to the next adventure. What her purpose in doing this was is unknown, but the effect was that the portrait was tied to Lady Bellatrix until now, drawing on her personality."

Sirius shivered at the thought of everything that Bellatrix could have learned through her connection to the portrait. Now that he thought of it though, the portrait had acted more like Bella than what he remembered of his mother. "I see. So everything the portrait said in the last year…"

"… was Lady Bellatrix's personality acting through the portrait. The Lady Walburga died shortly after you were imprisoned, my lord, under suspicious circumstances, though Lord Malfoy had the investigation dropped. So this portrait should have activated fifteen years ago. As it did not, I must assume that Lady Bellatrix spell was already in place before that time, as she took up residence in Azkaban earlier that year. Fortunately, the power of the spells enforcing the loyalty of the portraits to the head of House Black disrupted the connection and eliminated the spell."

"What about what Bellatrix learned during the time her spell was active?"

"You needn't concern yourself, Lord Sirius. The spell caused the portrait to take personality cues from Lady Bellatrix; it did not connect her conscious mind to it. She could not have learned anything from the connection."

"Well, that is a relief," Sirius sighed. Ivy nodded, smiling at her former charge. It struck Sirius that this was the first time he had seen his nurse-elf smile in his life. "Now, Ivy, I just became Lord Black, and everyone appears to think I have been gone for month instead of the two days that I experienced. The condition of Kreacher's remains would seem to support that idea, but what happened?"

"My Lord Sirius, you have been touched by the ethereal plane, the barrier between this world the world of the dead. Elves know the properties of this region well, and time passes differently there. You passed into that plane in the month you call June, and it is now the month wizards call August."

"Well… alright then. Ivy, I have received information that someone other than my designated heir is looking to claim the Ancient and Noble House of Black, while the Ministry of Magic is attempting to declare the house properties forfeit. What should I do? I can't go to Gringotts or the ministry will feed me to the dementors." Sirius slumped into a chair, his eyes pleading to the one person from his childhood who he could trust to give him advice.

"Lord Sirius, the goblins do not hold a treaty of extradition with the ministry of magic at this time. During the last war, the ministry violated that portion of the last treaty by refusing to turn witches and wizards who had violated their laws on their lands over to the goblins. If you were to portkey into Gringotts using a goblin key, they would not give any thought to turning you over to the ministry. They might place you on trial for any crimes you committed against them, but nothing the ministry could say would convince them to turn you over to them otherwise."

"And where am I supposed to get a goblin portkey?"

Ivy smirked at Sirius now, shocking him, as he had never seen such an expression on an elf's face. "The head's ring is such a device Lord Sirius. Surely, you do not think any of the previous Lords Black would lower themselves to _walk_ to the territory of an acknowledged enemy or even a distrusted ally like a supplicant. It would be beneath their dignity. Of course, your father and grandfather did not know of this property as they felt we elves were too far beneath them to be of any use beyond the menial tasks we can perform. They forgot that the Black elves have been the House Chroniclers since the time before the Merlin of Avalon. All you must do is state the motto of your family while thinking that you wish to go to the goblin bank and it shall take you there."

Sirius blinked surprised that it could be so easy, and then smiled at his old nanny. "Maybe I'll go in the morning. I doubt the goblins would care to have guests at this time of night."

"A wise choice, my lord," Sirius could almost swear his old nanny was laughing at him.

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The sound of unfamiliar birds outside her window woke Ranma as the sun followed the sound through the window and shone in her eyes. The heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black slipped out of bed, and glanced over to the bed set aside for her mother. Noting the absence of the expected occupant, Ranma made her way out of the room, shambling like a zombie as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Entering the bathroom a floor below, Ranma checked to make sure it was unoccupied and then turned and locked the door. Several minutes and a shower later, a still female Ranma grumbled her way back to the room she currently shared.

Dressing in a feminine version of her normal tang and kung fu pants that actually fit her in this form, she made sure she was wearing all of the appropriate underwear as her mother required, and then went down the stairs to the kitchen. Perking up slightly at the smell of familiar food, Ranma made her way into the room, not surprised to see her mother cooking while Molly Weasley asked questions. It was obvious that the two mothers were enjoying the opportunity to share homemaking secrets. As Ranma came into the room, the women stopped and smiled at the young boy-turned-girl.

"Mornin', Mom."

"Good Morning, Dear. Thank you for dressing appropriately this morning; I know how difficult the current circumstances are for you. I appreciate the effort."

"Ah, Mom, it's nothing big, just annoying really." Ranma turned and bowed respectfully to Molly. "Excuse me, Weasley-san, would it be all right if I practiced my art outside?" Molly blinked, confused for a moment and then remembered that her young guest practiced muggle techniques for fighting that could subdue trained aurors more quickly than many spells. Shaking her head at her own surprise, she smiled at Ranma

"Of Course, Dear, and don't worry about making any noise, the others ought to be waking up soon anyway." Ranma bowed again, then caught herself and nodded. Leaving through the outer door, and ignoring the Weasley matriarch asking her mother another question, Ranma made her way to spot clear of overhead obstruction. She then began going through her warm-up kata, quickly progressing from ground based basics of kenpo to the more aerial maneuvers of Anything Goes. After completing her warm-up, Ranma began her ki exercises. She began by moving her ki around her body, and then manifesting her ki in her hands. It was as she completed particularly difficult maneuver involving charging a neutral ki sphere while hanging in midair that a pop of displaced air announced the appearance of Arthur Weasley in the spot where she was planning to unleash the ball. Unfortunately, the sudden arrival of a non-combatant in the target area forced the airborne martial artist to shift her point of aim and release the ki blast.

Mr. Weasley's shed exploded an instant later, accompanied by a squeak from the newly arrived Weasley. Ranma landed nearby and gaped at the destruction that her blast caused. When she saw Mr. Weasley draw his wand and look around as if expecting another attack, she cleared her throat, ducking under his wand arm as he spun in her direction.

"Sorry about your shed, Weasley-san. I wasn't expecting you to appear there." Ranma tugged her pigtail in embarrassment as her host blinked before glancing at the wreckage of the shed, then back at the embarrassed teen"

"And how did you manage that?" Ranma's blush grew as the Weasley patriarch raised an eyebrow in honest curiosity.

"Um… I'm not quite sure really. The amount of ki I was using should have only singed the grass a little. It really shouldn't have been able to do that." As if to emphasize her statement, the wreckage shifted, collapsing further.

"Arthur? What is going on? Are we under attack?"

"Everything is all right, Molly. Just a little accident."

"Oh Honestly, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley shook her finger at her husband. "If those muggle things you've been collecting are going to start exploding you will have to move them further from the house."

"Alright, Molly, we will discuss it later tonight." Mrs. Weasley nodded and went back into the house. Arthur turned back to Ranma and raised an eyebrow. "Now, would you care to explain what I just took the blame for young lady?"

"Um… I was just practicing my ki manipulation techniques."

"And this ki is? Is it like magic?"

"I don't think so, sir." Ranma tugged at her pigtail again. "I've only been able to do magic for three weeks or so. I was able to manipulate ki for at least a year before that. It's just my life force really."

"I see. I take it that manipulating ki involves taking your internal energy and then moving it around and possibly sending it at a target?"

"Yes sir."

"Is it possible then, that since your magic was recently released from whatever was holding it back, that it might be blending or interacting with your ki and that it may be what caused the explosion?"

"I guess. That might explain why I feel so energized all the time."

"In that case, I would recommend that you not project your ki until you can discuss the possibility with someone better versed in wild-magics than I am. It might be more than an unimportant shed full of muggle odds and ends that is destroyed next time." Ranma nodded in agreement and walked with Mr. Weasley back toward the house. With a nod for her mother as she passed through the kitchen, she went back up to their room, then to the bathroom for another shower before coming down for breakfast. The other teens came down only a little after she did, but the silence of the kitchen broken only by the sounds of eating. Then Nodoka spoke.

"Ranma dear, would you wear that lovely skirt and blouse that I bought for you before your accident, the green blouse with the phoenix embroidery? We need to make a good impression when we go to the bank today. There will be enough trouble with your changed gender." Ranma finished the mouthful she had taken thinking about the request as Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny stared at the amount she had eaten in the short time they had been downstairs. After a few moments, she nodded.

"I guess. The knee length black skirt or the calf length one?"

"Calf length would be the most acceptable dear," Molly said. "It's best to be a little more formal if you don't have any robes to wear."

"Once we have dealt with your inheritance we will have to shop for some wizarding clothing I suppose," Nodoka said thoughtfully. After a thought, she shook herself.

"I thought you were a bloke," Ron said through his eggs and sausage. Ranma looked at him questioningly before turning to Harry and Hermione.

"He means that you are normally a boy," Hermione explained.

"Yeah, if you're a guy, why do you own any of that girly stuff?"

"I've been changing into a girl for almost two years now. Besides, wearing girl stuff when I'm stuck as a girl just makes sense."

"But why…"

"Listen, you do things to make your mom happy, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Ron looked mystified then glared at Ginny when she snorted, trying not to laugh.

"Well, me dressing in the right clothes for my current body makes mom happy. Since it doesn't make me look stupid or nothing', I figure, why not?"

"That's a very mature attitude Ranma," Mrs. Weasley said with a glare at her youngest children. Ranma shrugged and finished her fifth helping of breakfast before taking the plate over to the sink. She jumped in shock when the scrub brush rose into the air by itself when she set the plate into the washbasin. The plate also rose out of the sink, and the brush cleaned it, it dunked itself in the rinse water and then a towel dried it off before it floated back into the china cabinet.

Ranma and her mother went up to their room and changed clothes, and then met Mr. Weasley at the base of the stairs.

"Albus gave me a port key this morning when I told him about the change in plans, so we should arrive with plenty of time to reach Gringotts before your appointment this morning." Nodoka and Ranma nodded and each placed a finger on the small figurine, a Chinese dragon carved out of white jade, which Mr. Weasley held out for them. "Well, off we go then. Infinium." A flash of light later, the Weasley's front yard was only occupied by the chickens.

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Author's note: Well, this time the chapter only took me about nine months to write. So, I am getting better. The next one will, hopefully, take a lot less time to get out… But, I wouldn't hold your breath. I just started a new job, so I have a lot less free time than I used to. PS. Sorry about the Kreature/Kreacher issue.

* Who can name the series this title is from?


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